Guardians
by Kitten
Summary: The last story in the "Forgotten Heroes" trilogy follows Piper Riley and her guardian as they face their greatest nightmares and darkest desires to reach the end of the Shadow Labyrinth. Danger, seduction and fear are just the beginning…
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
Night had fallen to the quiet estate just as the dark hair man finished his meditation. His ice husky blue eyes opened and widened in alarm.  
  
Before the thought of danger was put to his mind, Keegan found himself charging into his hostess, Piper Riley's room and private bath.  
  
The sight of the pale bloody figure in the bathtub made Keegan grow suddenly cold.  
  
Her hair was soaked a bloody red, blending in with her gore-covered nightgown. Keegan lifted her slender arm and felt for a pulse only to discover her wrist was ripped open. He looked down and discovered the object that wrecked havoc on the young lady before him: a metal hairbrush with its tiny prongs sharpened to a deadly point.  
  
"Oh Gods, Piper you didn't." Keegan moaned lifting the slender young woman and gently laying her on the floor. He quickly tore apart the bathroom, seeking out towels and anything that could stop the bleeding.  
  
In desperation, he shook Piper viciously.  
  
"Piper, wake up!" Keegan cried as he pressed a mound of material over both wrists. "Piper!"  
  
Gray eyes fluttered open and attempted to gaze at the frightened young man.  
  
"Kee Gan?" she whispered.  
  
Keegan almost began to laugh hysterically but forced his exuberance down and focused on Piper.  
  
"What do you think you were doing?" he asked not embarrassed when his voice cracked. "Why did you do this to yourself?"  
  
Piper laughed and began gasping, her eyes becoming unfocused.  
  
Keegan shook her, "Piper, don't you dare die on me!"  
  
She continued to gasp and fight against him.  
  
Time was running out and he knew it. Suddenly inspiration struck and Keegan dashed into Piper's room. He rummaged through her jewelry box until he found what he needed. He dashed back into the bathroom and knelt beside Piper.  
  
"Piper." He said calmly taking her left hand into his own. She struggled to open her eyes and finally did so, focusing on Keegan.  
  
"I need you to repeat after me. Please?"  
  
Before she could answer, Keegan slipped on the alexandrite and white gold ring he gave her the day she graduated onto her left index finger.  
  
"Repeat after me: This ring, the symbol of my oath, will hold me to the words I speak: All I refuse and thee I choose."  
  
Slowly and surely, Piper spoke the words and the stone glowed blood red for an instant.  
  
"Now let's get you patched up." Keegan told her obviously more relaxed. "You're parents will be home soon."  
  
Piper felt warm as Keegan's energies surrounded her, healed her, caressed her. For the first time in her life, she felt at peace and knew it was Keegan's doing. 


	2. Glamour

1 Glamour  
  
2  
  
3 I stared at myself in the mirror, satisfied with the stylist job on my hair. Instead of plain Barbie doll blond hair, streaks of bright purple hair peeked out every which way adding a rebellious edge to the rich socialite I had become since high school.  
  
4 I smiled faintly and remembered my best friend Madelyn Olslin and her lover Julian. When we first met, she was an outcast who most likely would have ended her life before she graduated. Now she was touring the world's libraries adding to the ultimate knowledge she already possessed.  
  
My thoughts then turned to another friend, Damon Salvatore and his girlfriend Angel Taliesin. The two of them were opposite as day and night. Damon was a vampire and Angel was a vampire slayer. But thanks to my guardian Keegan and the revelation that he was Angel's brother, the two fell in love.  
  
The thought of Keegan made my gaze move to my left hand where the beautiful alexandrite ring rested on my left index finger as testament of Keegan's ownership of me.  
  
"All I refuse and thee I choose" I whispered as my spirit silently cried out in outrage and my heart warmed with the thought of Keegan choosing me.  
  
I forced Keegan out of my mind as I applied blush to my pale cheeks, careful not to get any dust on my blue flame mid-drift tank top and black lace pull over. Eyeliner was put on to draw attention to my ash-gray eyes, the best feature. After I added a dash of violet lipstick, I turned and almost ran into Keegan.  
  
I took him in from toe to head. We both were wearing black Doc Martin boots, mine were knee high, and his were regular. His blue jeans were loose and stylishly cut exactly for him.  
  
Mother would not except anything else.  
  
As always he wore a black shirt with some smart aleck saying on it. Today's was CHICKENS: The only animal you eat before they are born and after they are dead. My gaze slipped up to his long light brown hair pulled back and braided in two pigtails. Then I looked up into his ice blue eyes.  
  
"You know Mother is going to kill you when she sees you in pigtails." I told him and brushed past him.  
  
He laughed "*Mister* Taliesin" Keegan said doing a fair impression of my Mother's shrill voice. "You are a member of this household and must act accordingly."  
  
He began following me into my room and flopped down onto my bed, "Men of this household do not sculpt their hair into the fashion of little girls."  
  
I laughed, something Keegan excelled at. "Sculpted? God who would call styling hair *sculpting*?"  
  
"Your mother."  
  
I snorted and began walking out, soon followed by Keegan.  
  
"Maddy and Damon wrote you." He said catching up to me and magically produced two opened envelopes.  
  
I jerked them out of his hand angrily. "Since you've already read my mail when I *told you countlessly* not to—"  
  
He cut me off anticipating my request, "Madelyn and Julian are coming back home in a week, just in time for your birthday."  
  
"Yippee!" I exclaimed dashing out of the estate and both of us hopped into my Corvette. As we peeled out of the driveway and into traffic, Keegan continued.  
  
"Damon wrote to say that him and Angie are going to be back from Italy then as well. He says Julian and him cooked up a birthday party for you."  
  
I scowled as I raced toward the mall. "*Mummy* and Daddy already have my twenty-first birthday mapped out." I sighed.  
  
"At eight, I'm to be at some gala in Hollywood. At noon, I'm supposed to join my parents in Hawaii and be at a luncheon where I'm supposed to go out with my parent's choice for a son-in-law."  
  
Keegan grimaced, "I could tag along, play secret service man, and pull pranks on the moron." He turned to me and flashed me a dazzling smile, part human charm, part inhuman nature.  
  
"Then we can sneak out and party with the crew."  
  
I cut off someone and almost caused a wreck as we pulled into the mall parking lot.  
  
"Don't you even dare, Keegan." I snapped, just picturing what kind of chaos he would do this time. "I still remember the time you turned my last date into a slug. He still refuses to be near me."  
  
He features darkened as I parked the car.  
  
"That was the point."  
  
Together Keegan and I cruised the stores, picking and choosing outfits. With every outrageous I chose, Keegan picked out clothing my mother would approve of.  
  
"You know Keegan you aren't my watchdog." I said to him as he effortlessly carried ten plastic and paper store bags.  
  
"No Piper, I'm your master." He replied matter-of-factly.  
  
I scowled down at the alexandrite ring.  
  
"You spoke the words and bound yourself to me, gave yourself into my keeping." He was saying, "Now I am your master and you do as I say."  
  
"And I die when you say" I said rolling my eyes. I heard the speech many times after I attempted to kill myself that night.  
  
I know what you're going to say. "Why Piper Joan, would you want to die when you got everything a girl would ever want?" Money, a nice car, and fantastic parents. Not to mention a wardrobe the size of a small country.  
  
That is where you would be wrong. My parents, the wardrobe, the car and money are the exact reason I wish to die.  
  
My apparel mostly consists of outfits my mother picked out for me to wear at her stupid parties since she's so rich. I feel like a doll half the time! My car is simply a symbol of my parent's wealth and high status in the world.  
  
And my parents? I must have perfect manners, perfect hair, and perfect elocution, simply stated: I must be perfect. Nothing else suffices.  
  
On top of that, they hardly spend anytime with me. They weren't there when I first spoke, first talked and on my first day of school. At my ballet recitals when I received the lead, they weren't there to see me dance. When I sang solos in choral, they missed my singing because of a "Business Meeting." I hate them and their excuses.  
  
"I see you scowling," Keegan told interrupting my dark thoughts then he smiled, "Shall I liven up your day?"  
  
Before I could object, my *master* summoned up seventy-two trombones that began to march around us as they played circus-type music.  
  
"Sparky, get rid of them!" I shouted using my nickname for him.  
  
He smiled devilishly as a crowd began to gather, "Awl, you never let me have fun." The band vanished as if it were never there.  
  
"I let you stay at my home. I let you buy those gawd awful clothes And—"  
  
"Your mother pays me to be your bodyguard and I got those clothes so your mother wouldn't upset you." He put in before I could say another word.  
  
I threw up my arms as the crowd thinned out.  
  
"What do you care?!"  
  
"I don't." He replied nonchalantly. "But when she gripes, you tend to use sharp objects on vital blood vessels and I won't have that."  
  
I sighed.  
  
Upon entering my room hours later, I noticed plump little gray mushrooms had sprouted magically from every available surface. My four poster bed with its pink canopy. My white marble desk and matching dressers. Even my computer, scanner, and television were all covered with mushrooms.  
  
"Why the heck are you growing mushrooms in my bedroom?! On my bed?! What are you smoking? Do you need medication?!" I shouted toward the small door sized gateway near the bathroom door that led to Keegan's room.  
  
"You wouldn't let me have fun at the mall, so I had fun now." His voice floated in from the glowing white vortex.  
  
"You are the most brainless, idiotic *male* I have ever met!"  
  
"But you love me." Came the amused reply.  
  
I smiled and began to chuckle. He had me there, I did love him since he cared so much about me and my welfare.  
  
Since the moment he moved in, Keegan made himself available to me twenty-four/seven and that was why my parents decided to make him my bodyguard. Besides, it gave him a good respectable reason to be my shadow.  
  
My parents liked respectable.  
  
My parents' dinner was raw oysters with lemon served with a Muscatel. Myself, I had a small bowel of cottage cheese with a pineapple slice and a goblet of slim fast. "Jezebel is such a beautiful canine, Baxter." My mother gushed over her ugly toy poodle that daintily retrieved a gob of meat from the shell she slipped it."So refined."  
  
My father nodded, "Very refined, Amelia." Then he turned his attention toward me.  
  
"Piper, have you done something with your hair?"  
  
From the shadows nearest to me, Keegan snorted and I replied, "Yes sir, I had it streaked a week ago."  
  
My father nodded and spoke to my mother, ignoring me for the rest of dinner.  
  
Come on, review. I won't continue unless you do. 


	3. Dark Duet

Dark Duet  
  
I do believe I forgot a disclaimer in the first part. Sorry! DISCLAIMER: I don't own a thing but Piper, Keegan and his lullaby  
  
Afterwards I fled to my room and into the security of Keegan's room. For a brief instant everything was a bright white and then it suddenly was a room inside a dainty cottage overlooking a flower filled meadow.  
  
Vanaheim at last, I thought searching the room. Everything was exactly as I remembered it. A handcrafted wooden table and chair by the door. Cabinets lining the walls, full of soothing herbs. As I saw where he sat in the rocking chair by the window, I smelled the scent of lavender.  
  
With a sob, I flung myself into Keegan's trusting arms and cried.  
  
He gathered me close and we swayed back and forth. His heartbeat became a soothing lullaby to me and I slowly relaxed as he began to hum.  
  
I recognized the tune as the lullaby his mother sang to him long ago and strangely, the sound of the smooth baritone comforted me like nothing else.  
  
His tune changed without missing a step and Keegan began to sing softly to me, a gift no one else knew he possessed.  
  
"Peace, peace, comes to you."  
  
"If only you wait"  
  
"Dreams come true."  
  
"If only you wait."  
  
"Someday all-"  
  
"Will be fine."  
  
He hummed the song a few moments more and then began to sing another song that seemed to meld with the last.  
  
I knew the song he began singing and soon my sweet soprano voice too began to sing along with him.  
  
Slowly, gently  
  
night unfurls its splendor...  
  
Grasp it, sense it - tremulous and tender..  
  
1 Turn your face away  
  
from the garish light of day,  
  
turn your thoughts away from cold,  
  
unfeeling light –  
  
and listen to  
  
the music of the night...  
  
We quietly faded to silence, still rocking in the sturdy chair.  
  
"Will you close your eyes, surrendering to your darkest dreams." He murmured huskily. "You cannot fight the darkness, Piper. Its sweet intoxication."  
  
"Yes" I whispered without thinking as I tilted my chin up towards him.  
  
His eyes were a cloudy gray, passionate and mysterious.  
  
"We both feel it grasping at us." He said to me. "We can fight it together."  
  
"Yes." I replied before his lips crashed over mine and I was swept away.  
  
I could describe Keegan's kiss as a man slowly savoring a meal when he was starving. Or a god holding a storm back. I sensed his need threatening to overwhelm his control and yet he kissed me gently as if I was made of glass.  
  
Suddenly, he pulled back and somehow move away, leaving me curled alone in the chair.  
  
"I-I shouldn't have done that." He said backing away from me and then fled out of the cottage quick as lightning.  
  
For a moment, I laid there in a daze then quietly, I stood up and left opposite of him appearing suddenly in my room.  
  
I moved a red silken blind over the gateway, carefully hiding it from view. I slipped out of my clothes and into my satin camisole negligee. Then laid down under my covers and went to sleep surrounded by tiny gray toadstools.  
  
I was in the Shadow World. Mountains of jagged blue ice and piercing winds surrounded me. Keegan and myself stood back to back in a bare frosty valley surrounded by darken Shadow Men.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Keegan demanded over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off his Elders.  
  
"In sleep they called for us, in dreams we came." They hissed.  
  
"Our dark voices call to Joan." They sang an evil clamor of noise.  
  
"Is that her name?" one asked and they all began laughing malignantly.  
  
"You had your laugh." Keegan said after they calmed down, "Now what do you want?"  
  
"Sing for us, sing the song you sang before." One replied  
  
"The one about darkness."  
  
"And fighting."  
  
"And losing." They all began chuckling.  
  
Keegan was silent and I followed his lead.  
  
"I don't want to." He replied quietly. Keegan looked up at them, piercing each Shadow Man with his gaze. "I'd rather talk about the Game you wish to play with us here."  
  
They giggled maniacally, "Games are fun."  
  
In the corner of my eye I caught Keegan smiling viciously.  
  
"Yes they are. Especially prizes." He told them.  
  
"The best are those with mortal prizes, female like your Piper."  
  
Keegan's gaze turned darker, "I won't disagree."  
  
"Raziel has his eye on one." One told us.  
  
"Very much like your Piper," a second hissed.  
  
"You could say, it is Piper!!" The first cackled sending shivers down my spine.  
  
Keegan only smiled, not giving into the obvious ploy to upset him. "What did this mortal do to gain our esteemed Lord's attention."  
  
He cocked his head and continued, "She really must be special to gain Master Loki's head lieutenant's attentions."  
  
I sensed them all smiling fiendishly at me as a single Shadow Man answered.  
  
"He thinks so."  
  
Keegan nodded, "It's the darkness inside her. It makes him curious about her, make him wonder what all she can take. Wonder if she'll accept his darkness as well."  
  
They laughed.  
  
"It pulls to Lord Raziel."  
  
"As does her light."  
  
"Piper carries both inside." A third said chilling me to the bone. "He wants to extinguish the light so she'll only have darkness."  
  
"And him." Keegan said grimly.  
  
I finally had enough of them talking as if I wasn't there and stepped up beside Keegan.  
  
"So this hotshot wants to break me huh?" I shouted angrily. "Well, some reject lieutenant from Ice World isn't gonna get me."  
  
Keegan cut his eyes toward me and I saw his admiration shine in his eyes. I felt all warm inside.  
  
"You have been warned." They said together and I suddenly found myself starting awake in my bed whipping to my feet. I raced out of my room and ran to Keegan's room inside the house.  
  
I found him inside on his bed reading a book by lamplight. His bed was still crisply made with an emerald comforter and the pillows neatly stacked behind his back. He was clothed only in a pair of jeans, his muscles revealed to my eyes.  
  
He looked up at me and calmly laid his book down.  
  
"He's coming."  
  
Reviews are much wanted! 


	4. Piper's birthday

1 Piper's birthday  
  
The week passed in a blur of preparations and meaningless hours. The only thing that stuck out about the week was a silent countdown to my twenty-first birthday that I kept.  
  
At exactly five-twenty AM, Keegan gently shook me awake and whispered in the dark happy birthday. I remember muttering something about sleep; the morning and shoving a birthday candle where the sun didn't shine.  
  
His only response was an amused chuckle and brushing his lips against my temple.  
  
When I finally awoke at six, I discovered a chocolate chip cookie with a candle sitting on my nightstand. I smiled warmly as the candle magically sparked to life and Happy Birthday softly began playing in the air.  
  
"Make a wish!" a tiny version of Keegan's voice exclaimed once the song was over.  
  
I wish… I wish to be free. I closed my eyes and blew out the candle.  
  
I dressed in the clothes from yesterday and walked to the dinning room where Keegan sat drinking coffee at the table, silently reading the book from last night.  
  
"Happy Birthday."  
  
I smiled and sat next to him as a maid sat a plate of eggs and ham with a glass of orange juice in front of me.  
  
"Thank you for the cookie but you know the fat will go to my thighs."  
  
"Your thighs are nice, now eat." He said never taking his eyes from the book.  
  
I took a bite before his comment could register and when it did I choked on the bite. After two gulps of juice I finally recovered.  
  
"Did you just say I have nice legs?!"  
  
"I think everything is nice. Eat." He told me firmer and flipped a page.  
  
"Everything about me or the world?"  
  
He lowered the book enough for me to see his penetrating ice blue eyes. I began eating my breakfast.  
  
After breakfast I drifted off into the parlor and checked the answering machine. Two messages waited for me.  
  
"Piper dearest, this is Mummy."  
  
I groaned and rolled my eyes as Keegan silently came in.  
  
"I've been thinking and I agree with Keegan." She said and I spun to face him. "Today is your birthday and those are special days where you should go and do things with friends. So go on, play, and don't forget to have fun!"  
  
I jumped up and hugged him.  
  
"Thank you!" I exclaimed and hugged him even tighter.  
  
Effortlessly Keegan pried me lose.  
  
"It gets better." He warned me just before the last message began to.  
  
"Happy B-day Piper!" Madelyn and Julian exclaimed in unison.  
  
"Hey if yer not busy, let's get together and party." Madelyn said.  
  
"Better yet, why don't you come to the pub, Purgatory and see what Damon and I cooked up for you." Julian added.  
  
"Julian, what are you and Damon up to." Madelyn asked suspiciously. "I don't like that look I see."  
  
"Don't worry," Julian told her, "It's harmless." A chuckle denied the claim.  
  
"Julian, I'm want to know."  
  
"It's a surprise for you and Piper." He told her.  
  
Before the call ended I heard Madelyn mutter, "I hate surprises."  
  
"Do you know what Jules and Mr. Fangs got up their sleeve?" I asked coyly.  
  
Keegan only smiled.  
  
Purgatory was like it always was. Mysterious music from unseen parts of the world played in the dim pub and club. The worlds of night and daylight mingled together in harmony. Werewolves danced with psychics while vampires drank with mortals and far darker creatures.  
  
"Happy birthday!" an entire section of the pub exclaimed. With delight, I ran up to the people who greeted me.  
  
First was Madelyn Olslin who was dressed in a peasant skirt, shirt and bodice of maroon and green that brought out her flame colored hair and hazel eyes. Next there was Julian dressed as French cavalier his light blond hair swept back and his indescribable blue eyes dancing. Then Damon gracefully bowed before me dressed in a Renaissance shirt and tights alongside his brother Stefan. Both outfits complimented their dark hair while Damon's all black outfit made his dark eyes blacker, Stefan's only brought out his emerald eyes.  
  
Stefan's lover Elena glided up in a light blue Renaissance dress, her blond hair pulled back in intricate fashion and her blue eyes dancing. She and I both gasped when Damon's girlfriend, Angel Taliesin floated over to us wearing a white gothic gown. Her blond hair fell past her shoulders in gentle curls and her pale blue eyes barely glanced at anyone but saw everything.  
  
"Angel says happy birthday." Damon told me as the stunning vampire hunter curtsied before me and then smiled faintly to Damon. "She also says she feels a bit silly dressing up."  
  
Keegan appeared suddenly dressed like a pirate and hugged his sister. "You look beautiful."  
  
"But not as beautiful as Piper will be." The bartender said behind us all. I spun and saw the most beautiful dress. On the bar sat a gorgeous white gown that seemed to change to lavender depending on the light.  
  
Keegan walked over and brought it to me.  
  
"There is a story that is whispered in the realm of Hel, the netherworld, of the *only* time djinn imparted a gift." His smile seemed dark and secretive as he talked of his and Julian's people. "Each one collected the material they would need for it. Silken threads made by Freya, the goddess Frigg's spinning wheel, Frey's blessing and Frigg herself. Together these made The Djinn's Gift, this dress."  
  
I gasped as he laid it in my arms. "Why did they make it? For whom?" I asked breathlessly as the dress magically melted over my clothes.  
  
"For my mother." Keegan said quietly as my street clothes dropped to the floor.  
  
"I can't wear this. By the way, why is everyone dressed up?" I inquired.  
  
"We're going to Scarborough Faire with Rob, Jenny and the gang." Julian answered.  
  
"And you're wearing the dress." Keegan added firmly as he scooped up my street clothes in his arms where they promptly vanished.  
  
I sighed in defeat.  
  
Rob Kessler in two words or less would have been described as a golden boy. His hair was blond, his skin was tan, and his eyes were gold, amber if you got technical. He waited patiently by the main gate to Scarborough along with his friends.  
  
Anna, Rob's girlfriend, stood next to Rob nervously playing with her dark hair scanning the crowd with her dark eyes. Next to her stood Rob's ex girlfriend Kaitlyn. Her strange blue on blue eyes took in her surroundings with an artist's eye. Next to her was her current boyfriend Gabriel, a cute guy with gray eyes and dark hair. A nice combo along with a nice bod.  
  
Next to that crowd stood Jenny Thorton-Locke. Jenny was dressed similar to Madelyn with her golden hair pulled back and braided. Her forest green eyes were all for her husband, Tom. Tom was a nice looking guy, dark hair trimmed neatly that went at odds with the outrageous jester outfit he wore.  
  
I was betting Julian talked him into it.  
  
"There they are!" Anna exclaimed and ran over to where we had appeared near the gate.  
  
"Happy birthday girl!" Kaitlyn said as soon as they all reached me. Gabriel stepped up and tossed me a rectangular box.  
  
"This is yours." He told me.  
  
I opened the present and gasped. Inside sat a simple silver crown in the shape of leaves. I put the gift on and immediately thanked them all.  
  
"Here's my group's gift." Jenny said as Tom handed me a show box.  
  
Upon opening it, I discovered a fan constructed of white leather and lavender and white feathers.  
  
"Keegan mentioned to us you liked Ren fairs, silver jewelry and these types of fans." Tom explained as I gave him the box back and held onto my fan.  
  
"Thank you all." I exclaimed to the point of crying. I turned to Keegan as we made out way through the gates of Scarborough. "You really shouldn't have."  
  
"Yes I did." He replied as I got my first view of the fair I so long to see. Right in front of us, minstrels sang on top of a stage while everyone bustled around. I spied a dwarf and a gargoyle walk pass and then a pretzel hawker.  
  
"So this is what you meant about a surprise of both of us." Madelyn said to Julian. "You knew I wanted to go here as well."  
  
Julian performed a perfect bow, "Of course I did m'lady." He offered her his arm and she giggled as she took it.  
  
Then Damon did the same to Angel to which she shook her head and began walking off, forcing the smitten vampire to run off after her and take her arm.  
  
"Would my lady Piper gift this rogue with the honor of escorting her around yon faire?" Keegan asked innocently as Elena and Stefan walked hand and hand by.  
  
The way he asked coupled with the magic of the surroundings caused me to demurely nod and accept his proffered arm.  
  
Together we walked passed shops of souvenirs, and stages hosting a variety of entertainers. Moments later, everyone somehow found himself or herself in front of the gate to a maze.  
  
"Come inside, lawds and ladies to the Labyrinth!" cried a rather hunched-backed fellow dressed in gray. "Traverse the mystery of the Labyrinth."  
  
I looked past the man and spied walls of bright cloth flapping in the slight breeze of the day.  
  
"Doesn't look very mysterious." Julian commented and received a somewhat playful punch to his arm from Madelyn for his rudeness.  
  
I looked back at the maze and smiled.  
  
"But that *is* the mystery" I turned and exclaimed cheerfully, "Discovering what makes it mysterious."  
  
Damon, Keegan and Julian shot me dry looks as Anna, Madelyn and I tugged our men toward the entrance. Not to be left out, Angel began yanking Damon towards the maze.  
  
Gabe, Kaitlyn, Jenny and Tom hung back.  
  
"We'll wait for you here." Jenny said rubbing her arms with her hands as if chilled by an unseen wind. Behind her, Kaitlyn nodded vigorously.  
  
"Okay, see ya soon." I said stepping inside along with the rest.  
  
We never saw what was to come.  
  
Okay so review! 


	5. Shadow Maze

Shadow Maze  
  
I don't own the lines from Labyrinth :P  
  
We entered together and found ourselves apart. One moment Madelyn was laughing beside me dragging Julian behind and the next instant, I heard them on the other side of the wall from me. A moment later Angel and Damon vanished from view as well.  
  
"What's going on here?" I cried.  
  
Keegan turned around in circles, gazing up at the sky. It was at that moment that he too vanished and I found myself not in Scarborough Fair but at the entrance of a stone maze.  
  
"Where am I?" I asked myself examining the sight before me. I seemed to be on top of a hill overlooking the miles of twists and turns of a labyrinth. From where I stood, I could see the tiny figures of my friends and other figures slowly approaching them. I opened my mouth to warn them when a voice behind me spoke up.  
  
"They can't hear you."  
  
I spun around with a gasp.  
  
Right in front of me stood a dark angel. His feathered wings were black as night. His long hair was navy blue- almost black. His sable eyes sat upon cruel features and his wore an ancient Japanese robe of black with red trim. If he didn't look so nasty, I would have called him cute.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked feeling like the typical clueless heroine. "Where am I?"  
  
The man smiled. "I am Lord Raziel and *you* are in the Shadow Labyrinth."  
  
I hide my fear behind an arrogant smirk, "So yer the loser the Shadow uglies warned Keegan and I about."  
  
His features hardened and I took a fearful step back.  
  
"It would be best if you did not mention the boy's name in my presence." Raziel hissed, "He is an abomination of the djinn race."  
  
I stuck my hand to my waist and snapped, "Well you certainly don't look like the rest of the freak show."  
  
Raziel chuckled, a low husky and sexy sound. "I am a master to everything here. Even over my own body."  
  
"And a nice body it is." I said before mentally slapping myself. Stupid blond!!  
  
Again he chuckled, "I thank you for the compliment and I would love to simply chat away the hours but you have something to do."  
  
"Let me guess." I said rolling my eyes. "Get through the maze, get my friends and go past the Goblin City to the goblin king's castle and go home. Raz, been there, done that, seen the movie."  
  
He sighed and cocked his head, "I am not David Bowie."  
  
"I never said you were."  
  
He glared at me sharply and I kept my mouth shut. Stupid blond!  
  
"Yes, like in the movie Labyrinth, you must get through the maze and yes you must collect your friends else they are mine." Somehow Raziel's dark looks became darker. "But you also must face your fears. Rob's, Anna's, Damon's, Angel's, Madelyn's, even Julian's and Keegan's."  
  
I shrugged, "No problemo."  
  
Raziel chuckled, "You have no idea what you are about to face."  
  
"Who cares. I'm gonna win." I replied with a smirk, taking up Madelyn's way about Games.  
  
Again he chuckled, "Then enter of your own free will, Piper and be faced with all your nightmares combined."  
  
Thunder crashed at that moment, causing me to jump inside the Labyrinth and passed Raziel. When I turned around toward the guy, I discovered he had disappeared.  
  
"Now remember Piper." Raziel's voice whispered in the wind. "Find your way through the Shadow Maze, seeking out each player in this Game and facing their fear. If you can reach the end with *all* of your friends, you win."  
  
"But if you do not." He added. "You are mine."  
  
I groaned and began my trek inside the maze. As if my life couldn't get any worse.  
  
A cliffhanger! Oh no! And I'm planning on taking a break from this fic. Oh no! 


	6. Dark Memories

Dark memories  
  
As I walked down the endless passages taking turns at random, I kept praying that the slithering I heard behind my every step wasn't Shadow men.  
  
"It's the awful purple vines on the wall coming after you", I told myself. "You can handle weeds."  
  
After I heard a hideous chuckle, I said, "Plants can talk, Piper. Haven't you ever seen those dancing flowers they sell in the toy store? Sure you have."  
  
A moment later, I heard the same hideous voice start butchering the song Tequila, then three others, once high, begin laughing.  
  
I began running taking turns even faster, keeping my eyes behind me for an attack. I spied balls of sickly green light speed after me, taunting me and laughing with the same rasping as the voices before.  
  
Suddenly I ran into a hard wall of flesh and screamed when its hands grabbed a hold of me. I shrieked and began fighting in a blind fury.  
  
"Piper, stop fighting!" a familiar safe voice hissed.  
  
I looked up with tears in my eyes, "Keegan?"  
  
He smiled as I hugged him trying to escape the green lights circling around us that were joined by many more.  
  
"Funny meeting you here. I see you've met the wisps." He told me  
  
"Wisps?"  
  
"The funny little things dancing around us."  
  
I looked around, finally seeing past the scary voices and yucky glow. The nasty monsters I heard chasing me were tiny laughing Tinkerbelles with blood red kitten claws.  
  
"Keegan!" They hissed happily. "We found her, we found her."  
  
He laughed as I backed away from him warily.  
  
"Did you sic those things on me?" I demanded. A guilty smirk answered me.  
  
"I just asked if they might-- *see* if you were around."  
  
I marched off past him, forcing him to catch up to me.  
  
"I take it you've met Raziel." He said trailed by giggling pixies. "So what's the Game?"  
  
"Get through maze, face nightmares and find everyone."  
  
He nodded, "Good thing the wisps are here. No one knows the Shadow Labyrinth like them." Then he turned and addressed the creatures.  
  
"Go see my other friends like Mistress Piper." He instructed. "They want to play too."  
  
With sinister gleeful cheers, the group left. It took only a few moments and then they returned. Angel was a block or so northeast from there. But first we had something else to do.  
  
"Let's go face my fears." He told me.  
  
Then it happened.  
  
Everything slowly became blurry until the only thing I could see was the wisps glow. I felt Keegan reach for and take my hand as we began our trek. I heard whispering and finally voices in the darkness. I tried concentrating on their words.  
  
"Why are you fixated on the girl Madelyn?" a sinister hiss issued from the clouds. "She keeps defeating you at every Game you play. Find another not so smart."  
  
"I like toying with Olslin." Keegan said but not the one holding my hand. No it was a past Keegan. One who hadn't spent two years watching over me. A darker and sinister Keegan.  
  
"She doesn't realize who I'm truly after, Elder." He revealed and laughed, "And apparently you don't either."  
  
"What are you up to Keegan?" the shadow man demanded, "What cruel little Game are you really playing."  
  
Beside me, Keegan froze as his past self replied.  
  
"I've simply set into motion a series of events that will allow me a prize I've set my sights on."  
  
"What events? All you've done is had your hind end thrashed by a sixteen year old mortal!"  
  
The past Keegan chuckled. "Keep watching, Elder. I'll win the Riley female."  
  
The shadow man's laughter faded away with the fog. I turned to Keegan and extracted my hand from his.  
  
"I was just a prize." I said so quietly. Keegan adverted his eyes. "Something to flaunt around, a sign of power… Like with my family."  
  
I began trembling, with outrage, sorrow? I couldn't tell and so I ran, blinded by tears that began to fall from my eyes.  
  
He used me! He never truly cared for me! Thoughts like those began to flood my mind. All a stupid game!  
  
The beautiful ring on my hand began mocking me. I tried wrenching it from my finger as I ran but it would not come off. I flung myself down on the ground and began crying harder, the weight of my sorrow holding me down.  
  
I don't know how long I laid there but after a moment I became aware of gentle hands rubbing my back, offering me comfort when I wanted none.  
  
"There there." Said a kind feminine voice. "I'm sure everything isn't so bad."  
  
I jerked my head up and came face to face with an almost mirror image of Angel. But it couldn't be Angel, my mind cried. Angel Taliesin's voice hypnotized anyone who heard it. And the one time she spoke, her voice was higher. Not like the smooth voice of the woman who wore the same dress as me.  
  
"Who- are you?" I whispered.  
  
She smiled and laughed, reminding me strangely of Keegan.  
  
"I'm Ariel. Who are you?"  
  
My jaw dropped which amused Angel and Keegan's dead mother even more. Ariel's laughter was as hypnotic as her daughter's voice. So bright and happy. No wonder the Shadow men gifted her with the dress we both wore.  
  
"I'm Piper." I said in a trembling voice.  
  
Ariel's smile deepened, "So *you're* Piper. I've heard so much about you."  
  
"L-like what?"  
  
She shrugged, "You're so caring and sweet." Then Ariel's joy turned clouded, "But oh so sad."  
  
"Who told you this?" I asked wiping tears from my eyes.  
  
Again she shrugged instantly perking up, "I don't know!" Ariel giggled, "Isn't that funny?"  
  
"Uh, yeah." I replied thinking that Keegan and Angel's mom was one of those dumb blondes.  
  
She was instantly on her feet and spun around in a circle. "Did you know that the only persons that can tame the Creeper and Lurker are of King Loki's blood?"  
  
The sudden change of subject threw me for a loop. "Uh no I didn't."  
  
Ariel nodded, "They can turn on the Shadow Men but never their own sibling. Never *ever* on them. Nope."  
  
I slowly rose to my feet, suddenly feeling a bit troubled by Ariel's behavior. "Don't take this the wrong way, but aren't you dead?"  
  
She laughed, "Well *yeah*! I am but Queen Hel is forbidden to take me in so I- stay around here."  
  
"You're not really Ariel, are you." I said slowly backing away.  
  
Her look turned savage in a heartbeat, "No little girl but you'll wish I was!" she hissed and speared right towards me.  
  
Before I could utter a shriek, a blue blur leapt over me and tackled the woman to the ground. Fenris, or the Lurker, growled viciously down at the blurring vision of Ariel and both of us watched as it changed into a somewhat human looking Shadow man.  
  
What I mean by somewhat was, he looked human- except for the pure white skin, blood red eyes, crimson claws and vampire fangs. Other than that, he looked normal.  
  
"Get off of me, wolf thing." He growled. "She is my prey."  
  
"Correction." Keegan's sharp voice snapped, "She *was* your prey."  
  
I turned and saw Keegan glaring down at the Shadow man with the Creeper towering behind him and wisps surrounding him. He looked very dashing and quite evil at that moment.  
  
"Lurker, let him up." Keegan ordered the wolf then addressed the Shadow man as he rose to his feet. "Let this be a lesson as to what is considered yours and *mine*."  
  
With a final look toward me, the guy vanished.  
  
"The Shadow Labyrinth is a dangerous place." Keegan said as his wolf bounded up to him. "You shouldn't go wandering alone."  
  
"Better to go at this Game alone than with you." I told him.  
  
He looked genuinely hurt. "I'm sorry Piper. It was a fear of mine that you'd find out I was playing with you."  
  
"Was?!" I exclaimed more tears coming to my eyes, "You still are!"  
  
"No I'm not!" he argued, "Not since the night I found you bleeding to death has *anything* been a game."  
  
I didn't answer so he continued and slowly stepped toward me. "That night when I found you, I never knew how much pain you were in. Never knew that it was so much you'd slash up your wrists and bleed to death."  
  
He finally reached me, "So I did the only thing I could think of to make sure you'd never do it again. Bind you, protect you, be there for you."  
  
I looked up into his eyes as he said, "All that I've done for you since that moment, was for you."  
  
"You care?" I asked timidly.  
  
He laughed, "We're friends! 'Course I care."  
  
I collapsed into his arms and let everything out. All the fear, all the hurt but most of all, let out the cries my soul was letting out because he didn't love me.  
  
Because I loved him  
  
  
  
Wow, that was a short break. Thanks to those who reviewed. Oh Redaura, if you couldn't tell, this kinda *is* Goblin King Labyrinth.. only with a FG twist! 


	7. Siren’s dance

1 Siren's dance  
  
After my cries finally died down, we began following the wisps toward Angel. They led us right and then left, then right again. I was glad I wasn't going through this maze alone. If I was, I knew I would have never gotten very far.  
  
To pass the time and break the silence, Keegan began telling me about his childhood.  
  
"When I was five, I remember getting lost in here." He told me. "I was so scared and began crying. Then the wisps came."  
  
"What happened?" I asked him.  
  
He chuckled, "They laughed at me. Said I was a foolish little shadow boy and then they attacked me."  
  
I winced, "How did you go from getting attacked by them to becoming chummy with them?"  
  
"A song." He answered and plucked a crude wooden flute out of thin air. "My father taught me that many things here in Niflheim love music."  
  
"Even the Shadow Men?" I asked turning to look at him.  
  
Keegan looked back at me, "Especially them."  
  
"So you played that flute and the savage beasts were soothed." I said as he began playing a lively tune on the flute.  
  
He nodded and I watched as the wisps began to dance around him. Soon I noticed the yucky purple plants slithering toward and began swaying to the beat. Next thing I know three gorgeous women appear and began moving seductively to the music. Each one had flame colored hair and wore slinky silk dresses that gave sudden peeks of naked flesh. Watching those three became hypnotic and I unconsciously began to dance with them.  
  
Piper! Keegan's voice screamed in my head. Don't watch the sirens.  
  
With a shake I returned to my senses to see the vampire looking Shadow Man drift up to the crowd of dancers and begin dancing with the three hypnotic women. I could see his red eyes glazing over, as he became enthralled to the Sirens.  
  
Keegan stopped playing the flute but the music never ended as he came up to me smiling triumphantly.  
  
"Poor Ezrin." He said sinisterly. "Couldn't leave my possessions well alone and now he's caught in the Siren's dance." His chuckled and glanced back at me.  
  
"A lesson 'tis learned." He told me darkly.  
  
I decided to forget I heard him refer to me as his possession.  
  
  
  
This looks to be a good end to a rather short and pointless chapter. It gets better don't worry. 


	8. The Shadow Oubliette

The Shadow Oubliette  
  
It was time later that in the silence between Keegan and I, we began hearing soul wrenching whimpers. We exchanged looks that said it all as the wisps darted ahead.  
  
Angel is in trouble—big trouble.  
  
We cut the corner without looking and suddenly the ground went out from under us. As I screamed in fright, the wisps too began screaming—only in exuberance and laughed as Keegan and I finally struck the black depths of the Shadow Labyrinth.  
  
"Ow!" someone shriek underneath me. I felt squirming under me then I hit the ground hard. I rose to my feet as the wisps floated down laughing like a bunch of idiots and illuminated my surrounding.  
  
Rough walls full of black fungi and alien bones littered the floor. Keegan was just getting to his feet and sported a faint red mark across his jaw where I had apparently struck him when I landed. Angel was cowering in a corner surrounded by sickly yellow goo.  
  
"It's the oubliette." The wisps cackled. "We're in the oubliette!!" They fluttered over to Angel and began tugging her hair and received no reaction what so ever.  
  
Keegan rushed to his sister's side and shook her roughly, "Angie!"  
  
I came over and took in her blank stare, glassy eyes and small quivering form. I saw Angel like this only one other time. It was the time Stefan, Elena and Damon carried her in right after she was rescued from this closet that her in-laws locked her up in. She had spent untold hours locked in that small room, forgotten, and scared. The worst part was, Angel is claustrophobic.  
  
"She's claustrophobic, Keegan." I told him. "Her worst fear is any place like this."  
  
Keegan said something very ugly, suspiciously sounding like a cuss word in some ancient Nordic language.  
  
"I'm going to kill Raziel whenever I get my hands on that winged bozo." He muttered. The wisps laughed and he shot them a nasty glare.  
  
I tried pulling Angel to her feet, "I think if we can get her out of here, we might be able to get to the root of her claustrophobia and get her to face it."  
  
Keegan pulled her up and into his arms. "Okay smart one, we're in the Shadow Oubliette. How do you propose we get out?" he demanded.  
  
Dumb blond, I screamed at myself. Think! How do you get out of an oubliette in a realm of impossibilities and monsters? Something seemed to click in my mind.  
  
"Sarah got out of one by using a door!" I said excitedly and began searching for a slab of wood.  
  
Keegan began following me, "Sarah? Sarah who?"  
  
"Sarah from the movie Labyrinth!" I exclaimed desperately searching for anything in the shape of a door. "Raziel has seen the movie, I've seen it. So logic dictates if Raziel is in control of this Game in the Labyrinth, and even said that the rules are similar to the movie then.." I found a piece of wood and slapped it to the wall then opened it like a door revealing an exit.  
  
Keegan grinned, "Then everything in the movie can happen here."  
  
I laughed as we both exited the Oubliette.  
  
"You're beginning to think like Madelyn." Keegan told me once we were outside back where we left off. "I don't think I like that."  
  
"Why?" I asked as he laid his sister gently down on the ground.  
  
"Because you might start getting onto my Games I play." Before I could say a word, Angel groaned and became aware of her surroundings.  
  
She looked at Keegan then studied me so hard I shuddered. Her eyes cut to the wisps, which were in turn flitting around studying her.  
  
*What* are those things, she demanded in my head.  
  
"Those things are wisps, they're our guide to getting out of the Labyrinth." I explained.  
  
And how did we get here, where is here?  
  
"Okay long story short, this walking feather duster named Raziel, he's Loki's messenger boy and he has this idea that I'm hot stuff." I said before Keegan interrupted.  
  
"You are."  
  
I ignored him and continued, "Anyway he's pullin' a Julian on us and dropped us all here in the Shadow World's Labyrinth and now we have to find everyone, face their fears and get out to 'Goblin City' or something like that." I frowned, "I never got that part, he mind have been messing with me."  
  
Angel looked over at her brother and spoke in both of our heads.  
  
Are we stuck in that wacky David Bowie flick?  
  
Keegan nodded, "With an aljinnu twist."  
  
She shook her head and we got immediately to business.  
  
"Know why you're afraid of tight spots?" I asked and added, "Originally, before Mina and Morigan locked you up."  
  
Angel thought for a moment and then replied.  
  
It must have started when I was born. I remember when that twist Trinidad gave Momma his blood thus changing me. Angel sighed, Then all I remember is tightness and not being able to breath and strugglingandnotbreathan'  
  
Keegan cut her off before she started freaking out. "So then you were cut out of mom?" He asked it like a question but he probably knew the answer.  
  
Yeah, Branton said the doctor's didn't go about it nice since Momma was already dead. Angel told us.  
  
I must have gotten close enough to death that the vampire blood in my newborn system activated making me who I am today.  
  
"So now we know." Keegan said quietly.  
  
And now she can face her fear.  
  
  
  
***Next chapter**: Raziel begins seducing Piper. Will she stick with her guardian or will she give into her dark side. 


	9. Seduction

Special thanks go to Redaura for her idea for Damon's ultimate fear  
  
We heard clapping before Raziel made his appearance. He still looked corrupt, he still looked scary but DANG was he hot!  
  
Angel was on her feet before Keegan could stop her and attempted to hit the Shadow honcho. What I mean by "tried" is, she lashed out at Raziel only to have her hand caught millimeters from his face and her arm jerked up straight, lifting her off her feet so that Angel and him could look eye to eye.  
  
"You must be Angela." He told her, ignoring that Keegan and I were even there. "You look much like your mother." He began walking off with Angel forcing Keegan and I to follow.  
  
"I can see why the jinn did not wish to lay a hand on you and simply dropped you into the Oubliette." Raziel told her and trapped Angel's other arm with the other as it whipped out to strike him. "Same hair, same eyes." He ran his free hand lightly over Angel's body and received a kick to the groin that freed Angel.  
  
"Same body." Raziel continued once he recovered enough to talk. Angel just glared at him as the dark angel continued, "If I did not know any better, I would swear you were Ariel and would whisk you away."  
  
"Why?" I asked interrupting their moment. Raziel turned and in a blink was circling me. Eek  
  
"Lady Ariel received many honors during her stay." He whispered seductively to me, "The honor of invulnerability to any harm. The honor of being my slave and I to her."  
  
I puzzled over that last remark as I began falling under his spell.  
  
"That too can be your honor." He whispered in my ear suddenly behind me. "I've only been slave to one and she wasn't much a master. Are you?"  
  
Danger, danger dumb blond! My mind howled.  
  
"Imagine what all I could do to you." Suddenly he was in front of me, capturing me with his gaze. "Imagine what you could do to me. Rip my heart out. Love me. Me love you."  
  
Love Raziel, a dark part of my mind tempted. And be loved too. Imagine the power you would hold. Never to be bound by anyone but him! Not your parents. Not Keegan--  
  
My gaze slipped from the seductive angel to Keegan's silent and unmovable gaze. He stood, holding Angel effortlessly back despite she had a vampire's huge strength, and only stared back at me. Leaving the decision of whom to choose up to me.  
  
He always left it up to me and took action to see my decision stayed. Little things like clothes and bigger things like my happiness.  
  
Always me, the lighter side of me whispered happily. I pushed myself angrily away from Raziel and glared at him as fiercely as I could.  
  
"I don't think so Mr. I am-a-walking-feather duster, uh man" I snapped faltering at the last moment in blond stupidity and maybe more. "I'm not gonna love some dude I just met, especially a whacked dude like you."  
  
Raziel simply sighed and looked mildly tried, "For now I'll concede to defeat, but I will win in the end."  
  
"Funny, I heard Julian tell that to Jenny many times." Keegan retorted viciously and smirked.  
  
Raziel didn't spare him a glance and merely grasped my hand and kissed my knuckles vanishing from sight.  
  
"That guy's creepy." I said rubbing my hand where he kissed me and turned to my friends.  
  
Keegan nodded as Angel looked at the two of us in outrage as a wisp landed on her brother's shoulder and whispered something in his ear.  
  
"Come on, the wisps spotted Damon." He told us and took off past me. Angel shot me a strange look before following Keegan.  
  
The closer we came to where the wisps saw Damon the more quirky our surroundings got. The vine covered walls changed slowly from stone into bright emerald green hedges with dainty red flowers sprouting from them. The sky changes from a sick yellow green into a beautiful blue with fragile little clouds scattered throughout.  
  
The wisps even changed their light and appearance from the nasty looking sprites to elfish looking fairies surrounded by a pastel green light. Their claws did not disappear.  
  
I began to realize when Keegan, Angel and I passed a deck of cards painting roses red that Raziel was picking my brain for fun little tidbits. Like a few scenes from Disney's Alice in Wonderland, a favorite cartoon of mine when I was young.  
  
I am seriously getting creeped out, Angel said when we passed the Mad Hatter's tea party. I hated this movie. Branton made me watch it all the time.  
  
"Just pretend we're all Alice's in Wonderland." I told her. "It'll make things seem less creepy."  
  
"Don't say that." Keegan replied briefly smiling. "Raziel might get the wild idea of stuffing me in a dress." Angel and I giggled at the picture he presented.  
  
In the distance near where we heard the Queen of Hearts's battle cries of "Off with their heads", I spotted a crow patiently waiting for us. When we drew closer, it flew up and landed on Angel's shoulder.  
  
Damon? I heard Angel ask the bird. What are you doing in that form.  
  
I sensed a brief smile pop up in his telepathic voice as he replied. I blended a lot better this way. Mad Hatter, bird, you know.  
  
Keegan was trying not to smile, "You're hiding something."  
  
The bird cawed at him and Damon replied. No I'm not.  
  
"Yes you are so why don't you just come out with what our host has done to you or I'll turn you into a shroom." Keegan replied with a very sinister smile only he could pull off and make me shiver.  
  
A shroom would be better than what the drag queen did to me, Damon answered puffing up his feathers in agitation.  
  
"Just because the guy is wearing a kimono doesn't mean he's in drag." I said feeling it was up to me to defend Raziel's taste in clothes. Keegan and Angel cut their eyes to me.  
  
"Why do you care what our host wears?" Keegan asked quietly.  
  
"I don't." I said quickly. "What I mean is the guy could wear nothing at all and—okay not something I want to picture right now." I blushed and tried again but Keegan silenced me by addressing Damon.  
  
"What did you say to Loki's right hand man?"  
  
Something about how stupid he looked in a dress and something concerning the events of his conception. Something involving a bird and a--  
  
Angel cut him off not even wanting to go there. So what did he do?  
  
Damon launched himself off of his girlfriend's shoulder, transforming back into his human form.  
  
Keegan began coughing trying his hardest not to laugh. Angel, the master of calm, just stuck her hands on her hips with a snort. I just stood there with my jaw hanging to my knees.  
  
It was the wisps that started laughing.  
  
"He's got the Goblin King's hair!" I exclaimed finally cracking up.  
  
Damon groaned and shook his head sending blond spike and hair standing almost a foot from his head everywhere.  
  
Keegan was rolling on the ground laughing as the Creeper and Lurker mysteriously appeared. The two animals took one look at Damon and busted up laughing, joining Keegan on the ground.  
  
"It isn't funny." Damon snapped as Angel finally broke down and smirked.  
  
"You never liked that man's hair in the movie." Keegan howled, "And now Raziel's stuck you with it! Haha!"  
  
Keegan, let's try to figure out how to get out of this hair brain deal, Angel said which made Keegan laugh only harder at the unintended pun.  
  
"Okay, okay." He said as we both attempted to calm down. He chose the method of avoiding looking at Damon and began pacing trying to puzzle this out. I chose to watch him.  
  
"Apparently you had some little fear of having a" Keegan cleared his throat trying not to start laughing, "Badhairday" he said as quickly as possible.  
  
He sighed as the wisps, plucked at Damon's locks "So the only thing I can think of is dealing with the fact you have David Bowie's hair." Keegan began snickering when one of the wisps placed a strand of Damon's hair on their head and began head banging to a butchered version of We will rock you.  
  
Damon swatted the annoying thing away, causing the other wisps to go "Aww"  
  
"I am not just going to deal with this *mop*" he growled trying to yank the spikes and extensions out.  
  
Angel gently took his hand and caught his gaze with her own, "I think you look sexy."  
  
Everyone was in a daze for a few seconds at hearing Angel's voice. Keegan and I froze. The Creeper and Lurker paused and even the wisp paused, causing them all to fall to the ground. But each of us was captured by the pure and uncontrolled hypnotic quality of Angel's voice.  
  
So much, that Damon accepted his hair and broke the curse returning his hair the way it was before.  
  
Keegan shook his head as each of us was freed of Angel's power. "Next time warn people you're about to do that." He snapped as his sister ruffled Damon's hair playfully.  
  
Next time, don't laugh at my honey, she replied demurely and Damon kissed her.  
  
Keegan laughed and ruffled Damon's hair. I took that time to slip away before anyone noticed.  
  
I remember Madelyn describing her own depression as a storm inside her. At that moment as I strolled past the Queen of Hearts, I knew what she meant.  
  
Sadness threatened to overwhelm me in the crazy, yet beautiful setting. I was confused as to why I could be sad in such a funny place. Was it because of Keegan? Or was it because the love I felt for him wasn't returned?  
  
I watched cards dance with woodland creature and tried not to think of dances that Keegan and I shared in the past. How he felt and how at peace I was.  
  
"Piper?!" someone shouted and it was then I decided to do something. I dashed into a bunch of bushes and hid as Keegan walked past me with tiny wisps trailing after him like a natural aura of power. I watched him be met up with Damon and Angel as they all searched the zany environment for me, or sign of me.  
  
"Where could she have gone?" Keegan asked breathlessly as if he'd been running.  
  
I saw Angel bite her lip and shook her head.  
  
"You think that weirdo Raziel has her?" Damon asked and received a slap across the chest from his girlfriend.  
  
"I hope not." Keegan said quietly as Angel gently put her arms around him.  
  
I'm sure Piper's fine. She told her brother as he stared off distantly.  
  
"She's dealt with getting captured by witches, having a best friend with ultimate knowledge and another being a half vampire." Damon told him and shrugged, "Getting through this place on her own ought to be a breeze."  
  
Keegan turn a hard glare on Damon and walked off angrily.  
  
We ought to follow him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble, Angel told her boyfriend.  
  
"Or trouble doesn't find us." Damon added as him and Angel followed Keegan away. Once they were out of sight, I crawled out from hiding space and sighed.  
  
Like it or not, I was now on my own. 


	10. On my own

Disclaimer: The song "On my own" isn't mine  
  
The first thing I did was swiping some clippers from the card squad. It was a simple job of creeping up behind the deck, grabbing the giant scissors and dashing back into my hiding place with my prize.  
  
After I secured the clippers, I used them to carve a crude wooden flute from some bamboo stalks that grew alongside where the Mad Hatter's Tea party was being held. I was very pleased by the soft sound that they made. If my guess was correct, any music would do.  
  
With a smile, I began my own journey.  
  
From on top a hill, I could see the Alice landscape went on from horizon to horizon. A chessboard lay to the north with chess pieces scurrying around the edge of a forest. To the east lay the direction my friends headed and I spotted them slowly being tracked by a black and white figure.  
  
Ezrin, I realized catching sight of a blur of red eyes. He probably thinks I'm still with Keegan and wants me to play with. I rolled my eyes and scanned what lay in the western half of Wonderland.  
  
A deep dark mysterious forest full of staring eyes and hooting owls I heard and spotted from my position. I tried thinking through Raziel's own mind, attempting to see which way he might think I go and then go opposite of it. But I couldn't quite get why he chose me to go after so I stop trying.  
  
My friends are east, I'll go west, I decided and headed straight through the Labyrinth and toward the woods.  
  
Inside the woods, the walls of the maze abruptly shifted to a cool gray brick that looked about to fall apart. In fact as I passed on segment of wall, I heard it crumble behind me.  
  
I heard laughter just then and spun to come face to faces with a small grouping of wisps.  
  
"Piper!" they all screamed together.  
  
I shushed them immediately. Chagrined, their glow dimmed and they huddled up to me.  
  
"What are you doing?" they whispered. "Keegan was worried. Angel was worried. Damon didn't care." They added sourly.  
  
I smiled, "I'm looking around." I replied.  
  
They all gave me disapproving looks. "Looking around the Labyrinth isn't a good idea. Come back with us!"  
  
I shook my head, "You go back and play with Keegan. I'm gonna goof around in this direction."  
  
"Keegan will be mad if you don't come." They told me in a sweet sing song voice.  
  
"Keegan being mad is the least of my concerns." I replied. "Go away and play somewhere else."  
  
The wisps giggled and yanked a strand of my hair out as they flew off toward Keegan. I rubbed my scalp watching them leave. I wonder why those annoying bugs did that?  
  
I pondered that question and many more as I trekked through the woods. When that became a little too deep for me to cope with I pulled out my flute and began playing a song that reflected my mood perfect. The words came to me and I silently sang with them.  
  
On my own, pretending he's beside me.  
  
All alone, I walk with him 'til morning.  
  
Without him, I feel his arms around me  
  
And when I lose my way I close my eyes  
  
And he has found me  
  
In the rain, the pavement shines like silver  
  
All the lights, are misty in the river  
  
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight  
  
And all I see is him and me  
  
Forever and forever  
  
Suddenly my thoughts became dark and the next verses of the song came out harsh through the flute and in my mind.  
  
And I know it's only in my mind  
  
That I'm talking to myself and not to him  
  
And although I know that he is blind  
  
Still I say there's a way for us  
  
I love him, but when the night is over  
  
He is gone, the river's just a river  
  
Without him, the world around me changes  
  
The trees are bare and everywhere  
  
The streets are full of strangers  
  
I love him, but everyday I'm learning  
  
All my life, I've only been pretending  
  
Without me, his world will go on turning  
  
A world that's full of happiness  
  
That I have never known  
  
I love him  
  
But only on my own—  
  
Suddenly I became aware that I wasn't alone in the woods. The owls were silent. All the bugs were silent too, as if there was a predator nearby.  
  
I stuck my flute in the belt of my dress and froze, looking and listening for signs of trouble.  
  
Trouble came in the sign of two dainty heads sticking out from behind a tree. Both had orange red hair and unnaturally long heads of something alien. Yet the two were very beautiful in an odd way.  
  
"We didn't wish to disturb you." Another person whispered and another odd head poked out from a tree.  
  
"We only wanted to listen." Said one as they all step out.  
  
I recognized the silk dresses that gave glimpses of naked flesh and the smooth movements of a dancer. A little too late I realize these three women were Sirens.  
  
"It's okay-- to listen I mean" I stuttered and they giggled, a sweet song that almost hypnotized me. Had they let it, I realized when they bent from incredibly long waists and examined my flute.  
  
"Is this the music maker?" one asked swaying to a silent beat.  
  
I tried not to watch the unconscious movement and answered them, "It's a flute, a crummy one at that."  
  
The three women looked at me in shock.  
  
"It is very beautiful."  
  
"Very, very." A second agreed and they all nodded vigorously.  
  
I shrugged, "To each their own." Then I tried walking away but one moved and intercepted me.  
  
"Where are you going? We'd like to hear more music, please?"  
  
I nervously bit my lip. I was beginning to rethink my plan on going out on my own.  
  
"It's nothing against you three but you're sirens." I told them. "Kinda hard to play for you guys if I get hypnotized whenever you start dancing."  
  
They laughed then one bent down and kissed me on the lips.  
  
In a fog of sorts, I heard one say "Now you are one of us. Siren, dancer and enslaver all in Niflheim."  
  
And I thought my life couldn't get more complicated. 


	11. To Tempt Fate

To Tempt Fate

Once the fog from my head cleared, everything seemed clearer. I was with my sister seductresses and we had much fun to have before the day was over. First we had to see about tempting our brothers in Niflheim. But most of all: tempt the ones who had another music maker with them.

I cast off the reins of my old life beginning to play and dance with my sisters. The forest blurred and all that was or ever would be was the Dance. In an instant, my body learned dances it never knew before. Dances to tempt, to kill and enthrall all flooded my mind until all there was was the Dance.

I spied my old friends and the wisps from alongside my sisters floating among the trees. Their words seemed so foreign but yet so familiar. I listened to them as my sisters and I waited to strike.

I'm beginning to really worry about Piper, Angel told the two men on either side of her.

"The wisps said she was prowling around close by so she's probably the one tracking us." Damon told her.

One side of Keegan's mouth quirked up, "That or Sirens or my kind or any other boogey man you can think up."

Damon rolled his eyes as Angel asked, How come you call the Shadow Men *your people*? You never refer to humans as such?

Keegan shrugged, "Force of habit."

We strike now, my sisters told me and I began to play as we began dancing around the trio.

"Sirens!" Keegan said adverting his gaze quickly, "Don't watch them."

Angel's eyes widened when she saw me. B-but Piper's one of them, she said as her and Damon fell under my sisters' and my spell.

Keegan looked up in time to see me gliding effortlessly among our friends and sirens. His eyes widened in shock and I enjoyed the stunned look on his face as I began playing the tune that would seal his doom.

Music of the Night softly drifted from my flute and Keegan fought the allure that my sisters and I portrayed. His own flute was whipped out and he sought to defend himself and win me with music.

Together our notes blended and harmonized bringing extreme pleasure and agony to Angel and Damon as they were forced to dance. I sensed as I began losing myself in the melody we played and switched to a different tactic. Voices.

I dropped my flute the same time he did and together we sang, harmonizing. Then as slowly and gently as the song, I began remembering. Keegan and I singing this same song, was it only last night?

As the final note was song, I collapsed into Keegan's arms and the Sirens vanished.

"Now I know why Sirens are so dangerous." Damon said breathlessly as I began to silently sob. "By the way Keegan, nice voice you got there."

Keegan snorted and carefully rose to his feet with me still in his arms.

What happened with Piper, Angel asked. Why was she with the Sirens?

"She received a siren's kiss, something that makes anyone lose any memory of who they were and changes them into a Siren." Keegan explained. "She didn't realized that anytime you play music here, sirens try to trap you."

I curled deeper into myself at such a stupid move. Dumb blond. Stupid worthless blond had to go off and look like the big action heroine. Now look, you're being carted around like an invalid because you had yourself turned into a siren and matched power against a Shadow Man. I slapped myself mentally, *Half* Shadow man dumb blond.

Suddenly I found myself back on my feet and facing Keegan, who shook me gently.

"Stop berating yourself." He ordered me softly. "So what you got a siren kiss? It happens."

I shook my head as tears filled my eyes and tried pushing myself away from him. But Keegan held me fast and I began crying as I was gathered back up into his arms and gently rocked until I fell into deep slumber.

Short, sweet and to the point. So now it's time to review.


	12. Stray not my love

Stray not my love

I awoke to the sound of a crackling fire, alone with the sight of two blood red eyes watching me. I sat up and gasped, waking fully and scooted back, running into an invisible wall behind me.

Ezrin snickered when I realized someone cast a force field around me. Looking down at the ground I could make out five onyxes with strange characters craved in them and filled with gold.

"When your friends left to hunt for food, Keegan set that up." Ezrin revealed and cackled, "He knew I was following and did not want me stealing his prize away. He said so himself." He told me proudly.

I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Keegan only thinks of me as some spoils of war, I thought bitterly. Can't have your booty running off on you. Can't have your prizes killing themselves.

Leaves rustled and Keegan, Angel and Damon appeared with the cheering wisps dragging a large ugly pig and a sturdy log just then. The three caught sight of Ezrin and glared menacing back at him.

"Your Piper looked lonely, so I stayed for a chat." He purred. "Can't have her upset, can we Keegan?"

Keegan viciously rammed the stick into the pig and laid it over the spit. Ezrin paled even more at the hidden message inside the movements.

"Who's the wanna-be vampire?" Damon inquired. 

"Damon, Ezrin. Ezrin, Damon" Keegan introduced. "Ezrin was my babysitter growing up. Now it seems he wants to keep an eye on me *and steal what's mine*."

His harsh gaze flickered toward the Shadow man.

I shrank into myself as Angel said, Get rid of him.

"Now go be a good little Shadow man and go pester someone else." Damon told Ezrin and made a shooing motion.

"Someone else doesn't have two beautiful ladies and a nice juicy boar cooking." The Shadow man hissed.

Without a word, the wisps zipped in and began attacking Ezrin. He swatted at them and backed away as their tiny claws bit into his flesh. Finally he vanished into the shadows outside of the light of the campfire and the wisps returned triumphant.

"Can we have some boar Keegan?" they asked zipping around him as he spun the pig over the fire. "We've been very helpful."

Keegan smiled faintly, "Okay."

"Lunchtime!" they all exclaimed as one and began ripping off slices of meat and flittered off into the forest.

I watched them go as Angel and Damon ripped off some of the bloody meat. They seemed so happy with their little mischievous ways and lives. What I remembered of the Sirens' joint memories, they too were happy. 

I began wondering, just a little, what it would be like to truly be a part of Niflheim. To play with the wisps. To sing and dance with the Sirens. To love Raziel—

"Want some?" Keegan asked snapping me back to the here and now as he offered me a hunk of juicy meat.

I thanked him as I took the meat and began eating it automatically, giving the blood and calories as little thought as possible. My mother would be shouting at me that this meat was filthy, vile, and would turn my beautiful skin and teeth into a disgusting mess. All my father would be concerned about is how he would make a profit from the tusks and skin. 

"If Stefan could see me now." Damon muttered, "Feasting on a pig and its blood. What a nightmare."

Angel and Keegan shot him a dirty look, so I decided to break the ice.

"Does anyone know any ghost stories?" I asked brightly. "I know one about a dead man's finger in a church's offering plate."

Ewww! Angel said with a wince. 

"How did that happen?" Damon asked puzzled.

"I'll go track down supplies to make us a shelter." Keegan told us rising to his feet. "I've heard this tale before." Before I could stop him, he was gone.

"The tale begins on a dark and stormy night" I began in a low spooky voice. Thunder rumbled and both Angel and me screamed, earning a laugh from Damon.

By the time the story was finished and rain finally did arrive, Keegan and Damon built us all a small tent with branches and large leaves. The fire was safe from the storm and we relaxed in tropical isle style. For beds, we used grass woven rugs and cloaks the wisps brought back. The cloaks had a fine white powder on them and smelled faintly of blood. 

I chose to ignore those facts.

"Do you think we can win this Game?" I asked hours later as Angel and Damon slept nestled together. I stared outside at the five onyxes circling our campground and at the dark mound of cloth nearest to the exit.

"We'll win." The mound said with Keegan's voice. "We'll win and then I'll take you home where you can feel safe."

"What if I don't feel safe there?"

There was a brief pause.

"Then, maybe, some star filled night will come and the music will be just right and *He* will come, confessing the feelings he feels for you and take you away into the night where you shall never suffer again." He told me quietly.

I sighed, wishing it were he doing those things instead of some faceless guy Keegan was depicting.

"How will I know this man?" I asked quietly.

"When he comes into your room, he will say everything you longed for him to say and then" Keegan paused and laughed, breaking the spell. "You and the guy will split."

I smiled and settled down for the night. I dreamt of the nights spent with a faceless man. He whispered of sweet nights, endless and beautiful. I turned to him, expecting it would be Keegan I was with.

Instead the dark features of Raziel were revealed.

Uh oh, I think she giving in. What do you think?


	13. Desires

Desires

I sensed there was trouble immediately when I awoke the next morning. The wisps were absent as were the sounds of forest animals who were around us. Somewhere someone was tapping his or her foot then would pause and sigh.

"I only wish to offer Piper a gift." Raziel purred from the outside right in front of the shelter exit. "A simple and harmless piece of fruit."

Someone snorted and I opened my eyes to see it was Keegan. Raziel sighed once more and began pacing just outside the onyx's protection. Beside Keegan knelt Angel and Damon on guard and ready for fight or flight. I was betting the former.

"Gifts here turn out to be more than they seem, m'lord." Keegan replied with a slight bow of his head. "Pardon me if I seem to have doubts."

Why is he being so respectful with this loser, Angel inquired.

Heck if I know, Damon replied telepathically, He's* your* brother.

"I can understand your distrust, *halfling*." Raziel said politely but with obvious distaste. "You seem to think Piper is yours."

"She is." Keegan snapped. "And you can't have her."

Raziel yawned, "You forget, *you perverse monstrosity*"

"Look who's talking." Damon muttered to Angel, who snickered as Raziel continued more calmly.

"I am Loki's lieutenant, my word is law, second to only Loki himself!" Raziel sneered, "While you are some- *mistake*." 

I winced as Keegan trembled in rage, the barb striking home.

I could tell this was a point that upset Keegan about how he was born. His mother was a prisoner in the Shadow World. She was forced to stay and probably was raped by Keegan's father -- whoever he was. In that moment Keegan needed me, which prompted me to do the unthinkable: Tick off Raziel!

"It doesn't matter how you put it Raziel, you're still second best." I told him as I sat up. "Ariel knew it and I know it!"

Raziel lunged toward us and I flinched only to stare agape as he struck an invisible force field. Then I heard raspy snickers and dry applause come up from the shadows.

"Nicely placed, girl!" the Shadow Men said gleefully as Raziel's face turned into an ugly mask of rage.

"Silence, you offensive apparitions!" Raziel roared and all was silent. He returned his attention to the four of us.

"I *will* have you *Piper*. Make no mistakes about that." He growled and vanished in an angry cloud of smoke.

I snorted, "Jerk!" 

Angel giggled and patted me on the back. Nice one, Riley, she said with a smile. I glanced and saw Keegan give me a dark forbidding look.

Some hours later, the wisps returned and we were back on our quest with our gear. It began raining during the trek, forcing us to pull up the hoods to our borrowed cloaks. Trees and vines soon gave way into the black and white colors of a chess board with stone walls of the Labyrinth. Soon we were standing amongst pawns whilst they play. 

"Excuse us." The wisps said as they quickly darted between pieces and laughed when they tripped on invisible feet and fell. "Pardon me!"

The four of us raced to catch up to the blur of lights, knocking over even more pieces behind us. I strove to keep up but found myself losing ground to the prenatural speed of my friends. 

Suddenly I found my hand was grabbed and I was hauled up onto Keegan's back. My legs dangled while my hands hung on around Keegan's neck as his feet carried him back up with the others.

"Where are we going?" Damon asked the wisps as a fog began rolling in.

"To the Queen's" they cried as their voices got strangely fainter and their glow got weaker. 

Something wasn't right. We began slowing down, as if Time itself was going still but the fog had no such problems. Soon we were enveloped in it. 

I felt strangely weightless and knew that Keegan was no longer close. It was as if I was in my own foggy little world.

I began hearing distorted voices, slurring words in dull tones one moment and in perfect clarity another. Sometimes the voices would echo but I understood them nonetheless.

"Come back to us Piper." They said, "Come and play."

The Sirens were calling me. They wanted me. Needed me to play for them. To dance and sing with them.

"Go with them Piper." Raziel's voice urged. "It is where you belong."

The fog began to clear a bit and I could see the Sirens beckoning me. Their hair was blowing slowly in a silent breeze that I could not feel. Their voices cried out to me and I took an unconscious step towards them then turned only to be face to face with Raziel.

"Go to them, Piper." He whispered as I turned my back to him and toward the Sirens. He leaned closer to me and said in my ear, "What have you to go back to? Uncaring parents? Go. Be with them."

He gently turned me to him, "I would gladly spend the rest of eternity wrapped in *your* Siren's song." His hand cautiously lifted and caressed my cheek.

My eyes drifted close as Raziel continued, "You and I can dance forever in each others arms. Together we would make beautiful music."

As my arm drifted up to his, I knocked my pipes lose from my belt and it shattered on the ground. My eyes opened and my gaze went to the scattered reeds. Memories of laughing ice blue eyes assaulted me. Eyes that would turn blue when he was sad. Turn to gray when he kissed me. Turned to white on one special night.

On my hand, the alexandrite stone was a smoldering gray.

An icy tear fell gently down my face and I looked up at Raziel, "I can't."

As his face turned from seductive to confused, I continued stronger, "No matter how appealing your offer is, Raziel, I can't accept."

He tenderly wiped the tear from my face, "If it is the others you worry about--"

I stopped him before he continued and took a step back, "No! I can't accept it. I will not sacrifice my friends or the good inside me for something dark!"

He stepped toward me, "But it does not have to be dark, Piper. It can be good."

"Anything with you would be dark." I replied and gasped at the anger and menace on Raziel's face.

"How can you still choose* him*?! He roared. "I'm a god compared to him."

"I don't want a god, I want someone human" I cried and added softer " and Keegan is."

Raziel was quiet for a moment and vanished into the mists. 

I looked around and as I did, I found myself back in time. I was home, in the bathroom, standing unnoticed as Keegan performed the binding ceremony on a pale and bloody me.

"All I refuse and thee I choose" I heard myself whisper.

Keegan sighed as the alexandrite stone on my otherself's hand glowed blood red.

"Now let's get you patched up." he told the other me obviously more relaxed. "Your parents will be home soon."

I watched as my twin hovered in the air, her wounds healing and then floated into Keegan's lap asleep.

He began crying and began rocking her, her head resting on his shoulder. "Why didn't you come to me?" Keegan whispered as he rocked, "That's why I stayed here. Why I rigged the Pokemon battle so you would win."

He kissed my temple and crushed a handful of my hair in his hands, "Why did you make me do this to you? To us?"

I watched him smile and rise to his feet with my other self in his arms then carry her into my room. I followed them as Keegan laid my doppelganger on my bed.

"This wasn't how I wanted to do things." He smiled as he brushed a stray lock of hair from my face. "But I'm glad I did."

Fog suddenly filled my vision and then I found myself in a white room. A happy little girl was sitting on the floor was sitting at her mother's knee. The girl and mother both had beautiful long flaxen hair, their eyes were blue. Beside the girl sat a little boy with ice blue eyes and short brown hair. Both of them were giggling at the story their mother was telling.

"And the king said "*I want this girl for my wife*"" the mother told children who giggled again. The mother looked up and saw me and said "Hello Piper. Come join us."

I shook my head and she nodded, "Angel, why don't you go with Piper here. I'll stay and entertain your brother."

The little girl nodded and rose to her feet aging instantly into the Angel I knew well. She shook her head as if coming out of a strange daze while fog began enveloping us.

Angel and I found ourselves in fantastic room full of Oriental rugs, giant cushions and a harem of women. Lounging amongst the women was Damon feasting on the blood of Elena while his brother Stefan was forced to watch helplessly.

I think I figured out what's going on here, Angel told me. We're having our desires used to trap us.

"So why did your Mom let you go to come with me." I whispered as Damon flung Elena aside to feast upon another woman.

Because that really was my mother, she replied.

As I stood agape at that revelation, Angel cleared her throat loudly, announcing her presence and displeasure at discovering this dark fantasy of Damon's.

Just what in the world are you doing, Salvatore? She demanded with her hands on her hips.

Damon jumped, flung the faceless woman aside and was on his feet in a second. "Nothing" he replied quickly. 

The obviously fake Elena tried to snake her way into Damon's arms making him out to be a liar and forced Damon to shoo her away. I tried not to laugh.

Piper and I discovered our desires were being used to trap us, Angel said sweetly. Would having your brother's girlfriend be your slave be a fantasy of yours?

"Of course not." Damon denied smoothly taking a step towards her. "My fantasies involve you and a whip."

So you want to beat me up, Angel snapped making Damon take a step back. She spun around and gave him her back.

In an instant, Damon was behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned down and began whispering in her ear. I watched her angry countenance slowly change to surprise and then Angel began to blushing bright red. She giggled as Damon moved back with a wicked grin.

Maybe later, she told him causing me to discretely cough to hide the laughter that was bubbling up inside me.

The fog lifted as it came and Angel, Damon and I found we lost something in the fog.

"Where are the wisps?" Damon asked looking around the chessboard and pieces.

More importantly, where's Keegan? Angel demanded.


	14. Existence

I finally figured out how to italicize stuff! Yippee! Okay story time.. 

Despite a desperate search, we couldn't find Keegan. We backtracked to camp only to find Ezrin feeding the Lurker a bone from the remains of the spit. He waved at us, prompting us to run away and go back to the chessboard where we were safe. 

_We should forget about finding Keeg and focus on finding the others_, Angel said as we took a break, sat down and ate some leftover meat from last night.

"But if we don't find everyone, then we all lose." I exclaimed. How could she even think about leaving her own brother behind?!

"You already found Keegan" Damon retorted.

_Right, plus our mother is with him_, Angel added. _He's as safe as can be!_

"How do we know it really was Ariel that was with you?" I demanded slamming my fists to the ground, "Ezrin, the white hair dude, pretended to her once."

Angel sighed. _The story she told…_ she said before I interrupted.

"He told one too. Something about Queen Hel or something is forbidden to take her so she sticks around here."

Before I could blink, Angel's hands were griping my arms and her face was alight.

_Momma, the woman I was with, said the same_! Angel exclaimed. _Her story!_ She released me and jumped to her feet beginning to pace. After a moment or two of watching her agitated movements, Damon had enough.

"So sit down and tell us, love." he told her with an exasperated smile.

She immediately slid into Damon's lap and related the story.

_Once upon a time, there lived a sweet and kind girl. She was so sweet and kind that everyone loved her, even the bogeymen that lived in a world of darkness. _

One day the girl had an accident and she died but the Queen of the underworld, Hella, would not take her to the underworld. Her elders banned Hella to never allow the girl through the gates of the underworld or to ever return her to the land of the living. 

So for company, the girl dances with bogeymen and slumbers in darkness. The End.

"Wow." I said.

_Momma is the girl in the story, she was talking about herself!_ Angel exclaimed.

"So Ezrin is messing with us like Keegan used to mess with Maddy." Damon said.

"He raised Keegan." I said as Angel shrugged. "He probably taught Keegan those tricks."

We traveled through the maze heading toward the last direction we saw the wisps go. Hopefully it led to the Queen's castle. Sometime later when we heard harsh bellows of "Off with his head." And we knew we were on the right track.

The Queen of Heart's castle was a cross between the Sultan's castle from Disney's Aladdin and a true medieval keep. On top of twin towers were two flags of red. Holding up the flags, was a flame looking structure that served no purpose but as decoration. About eight feet below the gold edifice were windows: one with a rose curtain, the other with a sky blue curtain.

The walls of the castle were a slate gray rising tall into the afternoon sky, rising even above the trees surrounding it. Leading up to the solitary gateway and under the bronze portcullis was a rug of the darkest crimson.

"The wisps said they were going here, so where are they?" Damon asked. 

_I agree something about this place is creepy_, Angel replied gazing at the castle.

"Seems to invite, don't it?" I said with a nervous giggle as Damon slowly placed a foot onto the carpet.

Suddenly the end of the carpet wrapped around Damon's leg, jerked him off his feet and began dragging him toward the gate.

_Damon!_ Angel cried as be both gave chase. 

I heard insane laughter coming from the rose window as Angel and I raced by and barely made it through the portcullis before it slammed down behind me.

Inside the gates, the carpet led up down the great torch lit halls and into the throne room, straight to the Queen of Hearts herself.

I stopped suddenly at the things before me. Cards with hands and armed with heart-shaped spears scrambled around doing the Queen's bidding, one of which was putting Damon in a cage and hoisting it up in front of the Queen. Angel crouched ready to lash out at anything that came at her or me. Julian sitting in the cage next to Damon. Then finally to the Queen herself.

Her eyes were a beautiful lavender. Her violet hair was pulled back in a ponytail that went down to her waist leaving only two wisps free. Her skin was a flawless ivory color that stood in contrast to the black choker around her neck.

Her dress was the most interesting thing. Speaking from a fashion point of view, the lady had class. The dress began with a black scoop neckline that revealed her well-endowed chest. Straight down the middle of the dress ending at a point at her thin waist was a lacy panel that exposed a short red slip that followed the path of the dress. The dress and slip fit skintight until splitting down the sides showing off _long _graceful legs and strange tattoos. On her feet was a simple pair of high heels that strapped at her dainty ankles.

"Welcome to my castle, ladies." The Queen of Hearts greeted from her throne as she absently examined her long and quite deadly looking red nails. She looked up from her nails and scowled at Angel.

"You!" she hissed as she rose to her feet. In the corner of my eye, I saw the cards begin creeping up on us. 

"Angel, the cards!" Damon and Julian said almost as one.

Just as Angel and I spun to meet our enemy, the Queen began to laugh and the cards along with the rest of the room looked back at the monarch.

"Angela!" The queen said with a laugh. "Here I thought that Ariel Taliesin had came to challenge me and it's her child that graces my kingdom."

The Queen's gaze locked with mine and I could see something akin to jealousy in her eyes. As if, it were _she_ who should be wearing Ariel's dress and not the exotic one she wore.

"Introduce yourself, child." She told me quietly sitting back down in her throne.

"Piper Riley, Your Highness." I said with a curtsy.

The Queen smiled like she was the cat that ate the canary. "You are the prize who I have heard so much about from the dark elves."

_You're not one of them?_ Angel asked with a frown.

"Of course she isn't." Julian replied. "She's a dark fae, a distant cousin of my kind."

"And let me guess." I said wryly to the Queen, "All of your kind is female."

The Queen smiled demurely and nodded.

"So is Damon and Julian part of some harem you got going?" I asked before even stopping to think. "If they are, I got to say you got great tastes!"

Angel elbowed me roughly, _Damon is mine Miss Dumb blond and Julian is your best friend's guy. Have at least some decency to remember that._

"So possessive all of a sudden." Damon said to Angel with a brief smile

Angel snorted and crossed her arms in front of her causing the Queen to laugh.

"Here I was going to keep the two gentlemen as part of my collection but now I've gotten a better idea." She said. "We shall play a Game, Taliesin, for the fate of your vampire and his friend."

"Hey!" Julian shouted, "We're not friends, we're drinking buddies. There's a difference."

"Whatever." The Queen replied with a roll of her eyes and returned her attention back to Angel. "You solve one riddle for _Julian_ and win a match against me for your vampire love."

I placed a hand on Angel's shoulder before she could do anything rash.

"This is the female equivalent to a Shadow Man, think about everything before you respond." I said quietly.

_You're one to talk, Piper._ Angel muttered softening the jab with a smile. _But thanks for the advice._

She turned to the Queen, careful to keep an eye on the guys the Queen the guards and me.

_Let's do it._

"Here's the riddle, what is it that _Julian_ fears more than anything else?" The Queen asked with a smile.

_My first instinct says to answer her with losing Maddy but that's too easy. _Angel said directly inside my mind and to no one else. _What do think, oh blond one?_

I tried examining the riddle like Maddy might have to explain it to me. Julian's relationship was based on that Madelyn summoned him to be her protector. It was known that if a jinn's summoner died, then the jinn died also. And who wanted to die?

But Julian can't die, something inside me whispered, to die you must be born – something that Julian wasn't.

So what happened, I asked myself and suddenly it hit me.

Julian's fear is the nothingness that he became when the Shadow Men unmade him, I told Angel. He fears that!

_Julian fears the void._

The Queen smiled, "You would be correct, Angela dear but I clearly told _you_ to solve the riddle. Not Piper!" She rose to her feet and her smile grew dark. "And since you have broken my rules you shall pay but being _unmade!_"

Her laughter was wild as suddenly I felt as if a bolt of lightning struck me. My body became chilled and my vision cloudy. I saw through the glaze, Julian, Damon and Angel all collapsing and then there was nothing.

Unlike the fog I faced before, I had no awareness of myself. There was no me, or I. Just a black emptiness. It was like being severely depressed, the weight of a world crushing you only to find yourself not bound by anything but you.

It was strange to be –nothing. To be everywhere but nowhere at once. The only experience that I –Piper had ever experienced like it was the night I nearly died.

Suddenly I found myself enveloped by a beautiful light. I –yes, I was warm and safe. I was happy and free and I could see everyone was inside this powerful light. I could see that they too felt its security.

When I opened my eyes I found a pair of blood red ones looking down upon me. I screamed startling everyone else into wakefulness where they lay just outside the Queen's castle.

"What's going on?" Julian demanded as Angel, him and Damon charged over to where I sat in front of Ezrin.

"Him!" I shrieked scooting back fearfully. 

"Would you rather I wear this?" Ezrin asked and placed a black and white Chinese mask over his face.

_Hey wait a minute, you look like Larva from Vampire Princess Miyu, _Angel snapped as Ezrin slipped the mask off.

The Shadow Man laughed, "I was wondering when someone would catch my little joke."

Before anymore pandemonium could ensue, Julian shrilly whistled catching everyone's attention. "First of all, what are you doing here Ezrin?"

"Playing with the boy's toy, Piper. Her and her friends are too funny."

Julian turned to Angel, "What is Vampire Princess Miyu?"

_It's a show about a girl sort of like me. Except she's a whole vampire, sends the vamps back to this dimension and hangs with a guy who looks exactly like that dude._ She replied pointing at Ezrin.

Julian turned back to the other Shadow Man, "Why are you dressed up like that? You don't have _that_ white of skin or those black marks on your hands."

I looked at Ezrin's hands finally noticing black circles on his knuckles and lines running along his hand bones.

"I liked this form, _little brother._" The Shadow Man replied. "It was amusing to me, like you found using the name Julian with that Jenny girl."

"Fine. Look like whatever you want." Julian told him and after a brief silence asked. "Do you know what that light was?"

Ezrin smiled, revealing sharp fangs, "That was the light that Raziel wishes to squelch inside Piper."

That was me?

"That was Piper?" Damon asked looking just as shocked as everyone.

Ezrin nodded, "Correct, Signor Salvatore. Piper possesses the same light inside her as Lady Ariel did. Pretty wasn't it?"

Julian's jaw dropped along with Damon's and Angel's.

"What?" Julian said at the same time as Angel asked, My_ mother had this light too?_

"The light is the physical manifestation of the goodness inside a person. Lady Ariel was loved by all because of the goodness inside her. She loved everyone, no matter how good or evil they were." Ezrin explained.

"You can say that again." Julian said with almost a dreamy sigh.

"Now you are a fun one." Ezrin told me with a sinister chuckle, "You hold a balance of light _and_ dark. Happiness and sorrow. You can be like Lady Ariel and not even flinch at the greatest of the world's evil." 

Or you can be consumed by it, was left unspoken. 


	15. Brother in arms

Brother in arms

"It seems unreal that Piper could ever be like Lady Ariel." Julian said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. 

"She can be." Ezrin said and gave me the eeriest look as wisps came screaming towards us. "And maybe even more."

"Yay, you freed us!" the wisps exclaimed darting every which way and yanking hair right and left. "Mean old Queenie stuck us in cages when we found Julian. But now we're free!"

The wisps then began darting around franticly. "Where is he?" they cried suddenly distressed. "Where is Keegan? Where did he go?"

_Keegan is with our mother_, Angel told them. _They wanted to catch up on time lost._

"No!" the wisps moaned. "Playtime! Not time to talk to ghost. Play!" The swarm drooped to the ground and I caught one in my hands.

"We can still play." I told the one in my hand. "You and the others can still look for the rest of our friends and your playmates. It can be fun without Keegan."

"No!" the wisp squeaked with a stubborn stomp of its foot. "We only looked because Keegan asked." Before I could reply, all the wisps were up and gone in a flash.

"We're certainly up an unsanitary tributary with inadequate support." Julian muttered throwing up his hands in frustration.

"That's one way of putting it." Damon replied flat. 

These guys needed a moral booster and I decided I was the one to deliver it.

"Come on!" I exclaimed struck with a crazy idea. "We can still get through this maze. We have Ezrin! He's been getting through without wisps."

Damon and Julian both looked at me as if I was crazy.

Angel patted me on the shoulder with sympathy. _Why don't you go sit down and let us adults think._

I began shaking in rage. My parents thought I was just a pretty piece of fluff that they could control. Keegan thought I was some prize and my friends thought I was a brainless child. _I had it!!!_

"No, I won't let you _adults_ think." I snapped. "If you've forgotten this is _my_ fight. The winged drag queen doesn't want the blond vampire wanna-be." I turned my gaze to Damon next. "He doesn't want a vampire who _still_ lusts after his brother's girlfriend." 

"Or a slave aljinnu." I snapped at Julian then pierced everyone with my angry stare. "He wants me. So if you adults want to plan our next move without even consulting me, why I don't just take that final step and give into Raziel!"

Everyone was quiet. Not a sound could have been heard, no birds chirped, no bees buzzed. The only sound was my harsh breathing.

"For your information," Ezrin said quietly. "I swore to Lady Ariel that I would watch over any of her children that came to Niflheim. I will not break my vow to her."

He turned to Angel, "For your mother, I will guide everyone through the labyrinth until the wisps return or you reach the end."

_Thanks, I think._

Now that was done everyone relaxed a tad and Julian slapped Ezrin on the back.

"Seems like old times. You and me, together again."

The older Shadow Man snickered, "You moping about some mortal and me stuck babysitting."

Julian chuckled, "I wasn't moping and I'm not now."

Ezrin rolled his eyes, "Sure. Believe whatever you like."

Damon cleared his throat loudly, "Sorry to interrupt your Kodak moment, _Julie._ But we still have Rob, Anna and _your lover_ to find."

"And track down Keegan" I added before Julian could pitch a fit at being called Julie.

_Keegan's fine, Piper. _Angel said with a frustrated sigh. _So stop worrying._

Ezrin smiled slowly, "Yes Piper. People will start thinking you might have more than friendly feelings towards him."

Next chapter: Madelyn, Keegan and a blast from the past!


	16. Step Forward

Step Forward

"My feet hurt." I whined for the twentieth time as we walked along a dusty road surrounded by dusty walls. We had been trekking nonstop for three hours, with no food breaks, or bathroom breaks or water breaks. It may have been fine for the two Shadow Men, vampire and half vampire in my company, but I was only human. _I needed rest!_

_Please, somebody give me one good reason why I shouldn't find a nice thick branch and just smack her with it? _Angel asked.

"Because I would kill you." Purred a familiar voice. Raziel suddenly appeared and my friends vanished.

"Shall I summon a dais so you may rest your weary and lovely legs?" he murmured. "I would do anything for you, you know that."

Raziel reached out and caressed my cheek, "What is your wish, Piper? To permanently be rid of those whom treat you as if you are daft?"

That would be so nice, something inside me sighed.

Suddenly Raziel was behind me and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Friends don't treat each other the way they have been treating you. You should be treated like a queen."

They're only using you for the light inside of you, that same part as before told me.

"Angela would have never solved the Queen of Hearts' riddle were you not there." Raziel said. "And then as thanks she calls you names and threatens your safety."

"Angel isn't that bad." I weakly argued.

"Then there is your other _friends_." He continued not even acknowledging my words. "Ezrin tried to harm you before. Do you truly think he wouldn't try again? Damon only sees you as a walking feast and Julian's only concern is his lover, Madelyn."

"Madelyn's my friend." I said feeling myself already losing to him. "She said so."

Raziel chuckled sensing my weakness, "If that is so, my love, then why isn't she ever there for _you_?"

I tried to stop the tears from coming but they silently fell down my cheeks in a salty flood. Raziel drew me into his embrace and I let myself be overcome with silent sobs. The worries I carried throughout the Labyrinth finally caught up with me in a tidal wave of pain. 

Where was the man I loved? Why did he abandon me? How am I going win this constant battle in a world where everything was an enemy, even yourself? Why am I so stupid? Why do my friends keep pointing out I'm so stupid? Why can't I be happy like Ariel seemed to always be?

A great white light enveloped my vision and I suddenly found myself an observer to a scene from the past. There were two people, Ariel Taliesin and a man I had never seen before.

The man was tall and muscular but not all muscles like a body builder, just enough to make him look hunky. His hair was light brown and fell down his back in a loose ponytail that left shorter strands to fall free around his handsome pale face. And when he smiled, his ice blue eyes seemed to light up like magic.

Together Ariel and the man danced gracefully and almost happily. I say almost because ever so often I could see a shadow cross Ariel's face and her happy expression falter.

"Ariel, what is wrong?" the man asked ending their dance with a sigh. "Is it him?"

Ariel adverted her gaze, "I wish you wouldn't refer to my husband like that."

The man reached out and tilted up her chin lovingly, "Do you miss Robert, my love? And your son, Branton?"

A tear fell from her eyes as she nodded, "I still love Robert, my Erlking. I love you both so much! And my baby, Branton--"

Keegan's father sighed and kissed Ariel on the forehead. "You shall return to them then, my love."

Ariel's eyes widened in shock, "But what about our--"

Keegan's father placed a finger to his lover's lips, "Our child will have what this world cannot give it, _love_. I will give you into Robert's keeping because of that love."

Her smile was radiant and it made my heart swell with the love I saw inside of it. "I will never forget you, Erlking. My beloved." She whispered.

"And no one shall forget you." He said huskily as Ariel slowly vanished from sight and the vision faded.

I stiffened in Raziel's arms and he knew that he again lost in his seduction games then vanished from sight. I looked around and saw my friends had reappeared plus one.

"Keegan!" I exclaimed throwing myself into his arms.

He laughed, "Hey what's that for?"

I pulled back with a smile, "Nothing."

Keegan just shook his head and turned to address everyone else, "So what did I miss?"

_Nothing much. Just riddles and death_, Angel said with a shrug. 

"Same old song and dance huh?" Keegan replied with a smirk. "Anything else?"

"Raziel was trying to turn me against everyone. Then I—sort of gave up for a moment and asked why I couldn't be serene like Ariel was and then I—kinda saw something."

"What did you see?" Keegan and Julian asked almost in unison.

"Ariel was dancing with a guy, who undeniably was Keegan's dad." I replied and sighed dreamily recalling the vision. "He loved her so much that he sent her home and she loved him as much in return."

"So I was a child of true love— not some sick obsession." Keegan stated quietly. 

Ezrin chuckled and tousled the half Shadow Man's hair playfully. "Everyone knows Ariel loved your father. Not everyone knows just _who_ your father is."

Damon, Angel, Julian and I stared at the Shadow Man in shock as he continued addressing Keegan.

"The elder Shadow Men know, Lady Ariel knows…"

"And I know but Raziel doesn't so I shouldn't let him get to me." Keegan said with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair, "But it hurts when the Drag Queen from Hel starts in on me."

Ezrin sighed, "You and your humanity, a curse and a gift in one." He sighed once more, "I must go now, my first duty is to Lady Ariel."

"I keep her company and guard her against the more amorous of her admirers." He smiled as his skin changed into a more human color and I watched as his eyes lightened to a soft pink. The fangs stayed and were joined by a neighboring set. He locked gazes with each and everyone one of us until his gaze rested on me.

"Besides, Piper already has two men fighting over her. She doesn't need three." And with that he was gone.

The wisps returned within moments of hearing Keegan's familiar pipes being played. They rejoiced and revealed that they were secretly still hunting the rest of our party. In fact, they saw Madelyn in a town not far away. 

Julian led the way down the dusty road that led us to, get this, _The Goblin City_. Sometimes I really hate Shadow Men and their sense of humor.

The city was actually a gathering of many crude huts made of mud with thatched roofing. As we walked down the empty streets I could hear the faint sounds of ghostly laughter and the cry of many farm animals long since gone from this world. Up ahead, Julian and Damon paused at the entrance of the city's only pub. Puzzled, I walked ahead to see what drew their attention.

WELC

OMET

OMYW

ORLD

I read the wooden sign then looked at the carvings of black flowers surrounding it and then below, at odds with everything else was a blinking neon sign advertising psychic readings. I turned to look at Damon and found him staring at the sign as if it was his worst enemy. A glance at Julian proved that he too found the sign something ominous.

"This is what drew me to Purgatory the night we first met. The black flowers symbolizing a Night World club." Damon said to Julian as if Angel, Keegan and I weren't there.

"It invited me too."

Keegan brushed past the two men and entered the pub without a word.

_He is hiding something_, Angel said to no one in particular.

Damon flashed everyone a devil-may-care smile. "Shall we go in and discover what awaits us?"

"Let's." Julian replied.

Inside, it was as if we stepped through the barriers of the Nine Worlds and entered Purgatory. The club that is.

The bartender, ever hidden amongst the shadows, was wiping the bar with a clean white rag. At one end of the bar, in human form and dressed all in black was the wolf Fenris. At the other end, also dressed in black assuming a human form was the snake Jormungand.

The club was silent and empty, or so I thought until I saw Madelyn and the Queen of Hearts sitting at a table under a spotlight. Not far away in another spotlight, I spied Rob and Anna. When I took a step towards them the bartender told me to stop.

"After you free these three there will be a final test." Fenris told us. 

"We can handle any of you guys' stinkin' test!" I shouted making Jormungand snicker.

"So she says now." He hissed with an evil smile. The snake man went back to business, "Only one of you may free your friends. Who shall it be?"

Julian glanced at Madelyn's blank expression and stepped up, "Me."

Damon scowled at Julian and stepped up beside him, "There's no way I'm going to leave all the heroics up to you, Jules."

Angel didn't even have to look at her love before she stepped forward, _Where Damon goes, I go._

I looked at Madelyn then Rob and Anna. I remembered their smiles I remembered the sound of their laughter. I looked at my dress, felt the circlet on my head and then looked down at the fan still wrapped around my wrist after all the adventures we had.

I stepped forward. "Screw your rules, children of Loki. We are all stepping forward to save our friends here and then we'll go get Keegan and then face that _final test_ that yer making such a hoopla about." Then I added smugly, "And you ain't going to stop us."

From the darkness someone began to clap.

"You sure have some spunk!" Keegan told me as he walked out of the darkness with a smile. 

"They each have something that makes them unique." The bartender said—proudly? Then he sighed, "Step towards one to see what they see and battle what they battle."

_Who's first?_ Angel inquired.

Julian glanced at Madelyn and then at Damon.

"Rob and Anna. Madelyn has handled worse." The vampire replied.

Now is the time where you review and tell me if I'm doing okay


	17. The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal 

Together we took a step toward Rob and Anna then our world melted away. I felt a sickening pull in the depths of my stomach as my vision went dark and then faded to light upon a scene that was only described to me.

All my friends from the Zetes Institute were there. Kait was dripping wet in a one-piece black and white stripe bathing suit. Rob and Anna were by Lewis struggling against something. Surrounded by some crazies, Joyce and I also were fighting against some invisible force. I knew the cause came from the giant slug people that an evil looking old man, Zetes most likely, was beating. All of us were trying to get to Gabriel and an ominous looking dark crystal.

"What's going on?" Lewis demanded in Keegan's voice.

"We're reliving the Institute revolt. Anna told me she still has nightmares about this day." I shouted. Looking around I discovered I was playing the role of Lydia.

"So what happens next?" Joyce asked in Julian's voice.

"See those pupa things?" I replied motioning with my head toward the slugs. "They're fixing to send Zetes flying into the crystal at the same time Gabe stabs the crystal with the shard in his hand."

"But I'm not Gabriel!" Gabriel said in Damon's voice.

_Then we have a big problem_, Angel said from Kaitlyn's direction.

This is Anna's nightmare and the only way to get through it is relive the day. But what about Rob, I asked myself. Why is he here? Is this also his nightmare? Is he also afraid of the events that unfolded here?

Or is his desire to change them

"Gabe---I mean Damon! When I say, toss the shard to Rob and get out of the way." I told him.

Damon nodded and prepared for my order. Together we watched as the scene unfolded.

I heard the savage swishing sound of Zetes cane and then the dull thud of the blows. We saw Rob's face tighten, saw it go grim with purpose. The shard quivered and moved an inch toward the crystal.

"Think of all your ambitions." Zetes was saying to Damon as he once did to Gabriel, "You wanted to go to the top. Have everything good. Money, power, position—all the things in life you deserve."

Damon looked nervously at me and back at the shard that lay inches away from his destruction.

"Recognition of your superiority—you'll never have any of it without me," Zetes went on franticly. "What about all that, Gabriel? Everything you always wanted?"

There was a long pregnant pause as Damon smiled. 

"Go to hell."

Zetes began to scream, sharp and piercing, and to beat the slug beings again. Even though I knew to expect it, I began to scream and cry.

Then suddenly the muck that held everyone immobile was gone. Everything began happening too quick for my mind to process.

"Now!" I screamed before being tackled to the ground.

I saw the glimmer of the crystal shard as it danced across the air and Rob lunging toward it. I heard Anna scream as Zetes smashed into the dark crystal. I watched helpless as Rob thrust the shard forward like a deathblow towards a foe.

_Rob!_ I somehow heard Anna cry and felt the joining of six minds intent on shielding a friend, lover and hero.

The sundering sounds of the crystals mixed in with us crashing to the floor of Purgatory. I looked up from the tangle of my friends to see a gateway full of beautiful colors, dark shadows and strangely…a smiling face.

Someone beneath me groaned, followed by five others.

"Whoever's elbow is in my gut, please remove it."

"Hey! Who pinched me!" Rob cried before Anna giggled mischievously.

"Whose elbow was that?" Julian demanded as everyone untangled himself or herself then found a seat in the pub.

"Wasn't mine, I was on top." I said offhandedly as I sat down at the bar.

"I always did like a girl who knew what she wanted." Keegan replied with a roguish grin. I smacked his arm as Fenris and Jormungand snickered.

"Okay, mind telling me where we are and what _just_ happened?" Rob asked. "One moment Anna and I are at the faire, the next we're at the Institute and now we're here with everyone at Purgatory with Keegan and Julian's pets."

"Fenris and Jormungand are _not—_ " Keegan growled before I held up my hand to silence him.

"Long story short: we were lured into the Shadow World by Raziel, the second in command here, who wants to have me as a prize in the Game we are playing." I told Rob and Anna. 

"The Game is like the movie Labyrinth, go through a maze full of weirdoes and stuff but it has a Shadow Man twist: we have to face our fears and/or our deepest desires. So far, we are winning since we've collected and faced everyone's nightmares and/or desires."

Anna glanced at Madelyn and turned back to the rest, "So we face what is inside Madelyn and then leave?"

"Not quite." The bartender said startling us. Gesh! I forgot he was here!

"As we told your friends, they must face a final test before withdrawing from the maze." Jormungand hissed.

Angel rolled her eyes, _We are_ **so** _scare._

Fenris smiled sinisterly, "We'll see, Angela. We'll see but now you must free Madelyn."

Upon the uttering of Madelyn's name, icy winds swept all through the pub, bringing in shadows and the mutterings the depraved dwellers of the Shadow World. Now the pub stood as empty as before but with a feeling of a bustling crowd.

"This is cre--epy." Anna said to no one in particular as an invisible claw slid down my arm.

I shrieked and jumped into Keegan's arms. "Something touched me." I told him as us and our friends inched carefully over towards Madelyn.

A mug clattered on the ground and Angel swung towards it trying to pick up a sign of our invisible audience.

_I'm not liking this. Not liking this at all, _Angel said sounding just as scared as I was at that moment.

"I don't think they'll harm us." Keegan said just as Damon hissed and clutched his arm.

"Some_thing_, just said they will." Damon replied just before his other arm was cut. "Keegan, what are these?!" 

Something giggled and then cackled in response.

"Rob," Keegan asked rather calmly as something sliced open his shirt, barely missing skin, "Is there anything that you're particularly scared of that's invisible?"

Rob looked sort of sheepish, "Nothing really."

"Nothing, okay."

Just then Anna screamed as her hands began to fade. Our invisible foe was really laughing now.

"Rob, fess up." Damon snapped. "I had endure having funky hair as a sick joke and then being caught with it."

_And don't forget that secret desire you have about the harem where you had your brother kissing your feet_, Angel reminded Damon as Anna's arms vanished.

"What are you scared of?" Julian asked. "Why's Anna fading?"

"Because I'm afraid to lose her—like I lost Kaitlyn."

Anna stopped fading but her arms were still missing. Everything was quite as Anna faced Rob.

"Remember our first date?" she asked him.

"I was going to Purgatory to meet Damon and Julian but before I could go out the door you asked me to go to a movie with you." Rob replied.

"How long has it been since that movie?" Anna asked him. "How long have we been going out?"

"Around five-six years, why?"

Anna seemed shy for a moment, "This really isn't how I pictured it but here it goes." She took a deep breath. "Rob, will you marry me?"

Rob made a sound that sounded a little like a laugh and a cough. Angel was frowning at Anna probably asking herself what was going on in that girl's head. Damon was smirking and Julian was trying not to laugh. I was stunned silent while Keegan calmly awaited Rob's answer.

"Uh, yeah. I mean yes I will." Rob stumbled. Anna threw her newly restored arms around her fiancé and rained kisses on him.

"When we get out of this place we'll tell everyone and—" Rob said before Angel cleared her throat gaining everyone's attention, like it or not.

_Rescue now, plan wedding later_, she said firmly.

Anna sighed and both of them nodded.

"Let's get Maddy."

**Coming soon** The Queen of Hearts make her final appearance and reveals why she is called The Queen! Secrets of the past and present are revealed! And THE END!


	18. Madelyn's battle

"Let's get Maddy." I said and led everyone into her nightmare.

Only the ticking of an hidden clock broke the silence. Before the darkness seemed vast and endless, broken only by a single patch of light. In that patch was a table and two chair. Before the table, in the two chairs were Madelyn and Jenny Thorton, Julian's first love. 

On the table before them was a simple game of checkers being played casually by both girls, but the air around Madelyn was tense. It was as if this game wasn't really what it appeared to be.

"What has he done for you?" Jenny asked with contempt I never heard from her before. "Be your hero? He was mine before he was yours."

"That is not Jenny." Julian whispered, "She would never treat anyone like that."

"So who is that messing with Maddy's mind?" Damon asked as I watched the false Jenny flip back her awesomely pretty golden blond hair and a cruel smile light up her green eyes. 

I looked at the dress she was wearing and my blood ran cold. The dress began with a black scoop neckline that revealed a well-endowed chest. Straight down the middle of the dress ending at a point at a thin waist was a lacy panel that exposed a short red slip that followed the path of the dress. The dress and slip fit skintight until splitting down the sides exposing long legs and a very familiar tattoo.

"That's the Queen of Hearts!" I hissed as realization hit. "Julian, why didn't you tell us that was her real nickname? That she specializes in messing with mortal hearts!?"

He shrugged, "I was sort of, tied up."

_Shh_, Angel told us, _Madelyn's making a move._

"Jenny was first but I am the last." Maddy said to the Queen as she placed her piece on the table. "And you can drop the disguise, your majesty."

The Queen laughed as she dropped the illusion of Jenny, "You are quite the clever little girl, Olslin. But not clever enough." The queen moved one of her pieces and over took Madelyn's.

"In Games with your counter parts, I was clever enough to nonstop defeat them." Madelyn replied as she moved another piece and took the Queen's.

"You fell into a halfling's trap to obtain your best friend." The Queen replied and at Madelyn's startled expression she laughed. "You didn't know? Ha! Remember Madelyn, games within games. Expect the unexpected and" the Queen moved a piece and took two of Madelyn's pieces. "You can't win against one of us!"

"Jenny Thorton did!" I shouted and began marching up to the Queen before anybody—myself included—could stop me. 

"She fought, and fought and kept fighting until she won." I told her in the light.

The Queen barely glanced at me, "But what did she really win? She didn't get her grandfather back, she didn't save those two foolish boys, plus she lost her little _hero_. All forgotten in the void."

Her lavender eyes spotted Julian in the shadows, "You did like it in the void, didn't you my pretty one. More than your time with me, perhaps."

Madelyn looked out into the shadows, her eyes reflected the hurt and betrayal she felt inside. I hated to see my friend like this.

"Maddy, look at me." I told her. When she did I continued, "I was there. He was dangling in a cage inside her throne room."

"Not all the time." The queen purred as Julian appeared out of the shadows with Damon and Angel close behind. "Julian spent a short but pleasurable period in my company."

"Sounds like you had more fun than I did, Julie." Damon muttered loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Shut up, Salvatore." Julian turned to Madelyn, "Believe me when I say there was nothing between her and me."

The Queen chuckled demurely, "You can trust him on that. There was _nothing_ between us."

Madelyn turned her tortured gaze upon Julian and I could see his heart breaking alongside her own. 

I began wracking my brain for someway to let Madelyn see past the Queen of Heart's deception. To let her objectively see the manipulation… Suddenly it struck me!

"Madelyn, remember the time I called you and you could hear banging in the background?" I asked.

Startled out of her misery, she turned toward me and nodded.

"Remember the stuff you heard?"

Slowly Madelyn smiled and giggled. "Keegan yelling about blasting something `to Hel and back'. Sounded a bit drastic."

"I thought it was cute." I replied giggling noticing moment the Queen's eyes begin to gleam maliciously. Hooked her!

"Aw how sweet, the halfling ensnared another." She purred. From the darkness, a set of glowing ice blue eyes watched on amused.

I pretended to be real dense and frowned.

"How many girls do you think he's tricked? How many has he captured pretending to be their friends?"

Madelyn frowned, first looking at me and then at the amused glowing eyes.

I shrugged, "Not as many as the rest of your crew. Keegan's merely twenty."

"Did you know when Keegan was five he mastered almost all of Niflheim?" The Queen of Hearts inquired. "When he was ten, he learned how to pierce through the barriers of the Nine Worlds? That he could go and do anything he wanted—_anywhere._"

The Queen smiled sinisterly, "That when he was fifteen, he was the one who suggested his elders to unmake Julian."

Julian looked back at the pair of glowing eyes. So impersonal. So innocent. The eyes of a very manipulative man who killed an immortal.

"I should be thanking you then Keegan." Madelyn spoke up from behind me. Julian and I spun around to see a new Madelyn. Stronger than the brave girl who faced the evil coven of witches who killed her mother. More beautiful and shining than the light inside me. 

This was the ultimate form of the woman Madelyn Olslin was destined to be.

"You delivered to me the guardian that I secretly sought in dreams." She told him and scattered the checkers and board into the shadows as she rose to her feet. 

"I no longer wish to play this pointless game with you anymore, Queen of Broken Hearts." Madelyn quietly told the stunned Queen. "I have what I want."

Then with a effortless wave she cried, "BEGONE!"

Everything shattered around us. The table, the chair, the darkness—even the sound of the clock ticking seemed to shatter. We found ourselves again in Purgatory, standing in the same places we were before we left now joined by Madelyn.

"Bar keep, I'll have a root beer please." She ordered stiffly polite. "Piper would like one as well. Julian will take a water, Damon a cup of blood, Angel one as well. Anna would like a coke and Rob wants a shot of whiskey but doesn't need one. Bring him some hot chocolate please."

Everyone sat in a booth as our order was prepared then brought to us. 

"I notice that you didn't order a drink for me." Keegan said quietly to Madelyn. "I guess I deserve it for popping off your boyfriend."

Madelyn looked up at him, "Like I told the Queen, I should thank you. If Julian wasn't unmade, I couldn't have summoned him. We wouldn't have the relationship that we have."

"All things have a purpose." Keegan said softly.

"Exactly." Anna replied.

All things have a purpose, something inside me echoed. 

Even Keegan's manipulations, I asked myself. I glanced down at his ring upon my finger. Even this?

"So what are we going to do now?" Rob asked snapping me back from my thoughts.

"I don't know about you," I said sheepishly, "But I'm kinda hungry."

Almost instantly, Fenris sprang from the bar bringing us a huge tray of chips, peanuts, chili cheese fries that Madelyn adored, some freshly cut vegetables, and regular lightly salted fries.

"Thank you." Anna told him sweetly as he sat back on top of the bar. He gave her a wolfish grin in reply as Madelyn attacked the cheese fries.

"Again, what's the plan? Are we just going to face up to this Raziel and pray we live or what?" Rob inquired as I began munching on a carrot and sipping my float.

"Not much else we can do after get through the last test." Julian said quietly.

"Creatures of Niflheim, especially top ranked creatures like Raziel and the Shadow Men, are hard to defeat." Keegan added.

"But we can do it." Anna added uncertainly, "Can't we?"

_Of course we can!_ Angel said fiercely. _We faced dark claustrophobic holes, wicked bad hair, malign crystals, nearly being un-created and that tart of a queen! We can get past that cross-dresser, no problem!_

With a cheer, everyone raised their glass in a toast.

"To the end." Damon said.

_"To the end!"_ echoed everyone… except Keegan.

As everyone began eating and drinking their fill, I heard him murmur something softly.

"And all for her love." Keegan said sadly as he fingered a chain around his neck.

Now what do you suppose that chain is holding? A medallion, perhaps? Hehe. Now click the button in the corner and leave a review : )


	19. The night so long ago

The night so long ago

After we ate and drank our fill, my friends and I turned our attentions back to the matter-at-hand: the final test.

_Okay snake eyes, what's the test?_ Angel demanded with a snicker from Damon and a sigh coming from Keegan. _What do we do?_

Jormungand hissed out a laugh along with his brother Fenris as a familiar fog rolled mysterious in and enveloped us.

"You watch." They said together as the mists shifted and slowly into a picture that became sharper and sharper. As it became clear, the blood in my veins froze and there was a collective gasp from the group.

A pretty blond girl was methodically brushing her long blond hair. She was seventeen, a recent graduate from high school and looked to be on top of her game. 

She was dressed in an old fashion shift made of soft pink cotton, her gray eyes smiling back at her in the mirror as she brushed. Her feet were bare revealing manicured toenails painted the color of roses. I knew this girl and what she was thinking behind the calm facade. How? It was me, four years ago.

"Mother and Father have already decided what am going to do with my life I told my reflection. "I'm to accompany them to various charities of their choice and _not_ the ones I've been giving to for years. I'm to begin dating some man of my parents' choice and soon after my twenty-first birthday, marry him."

I sighed, placing the brush down and leaning her head against the mirror. "And if I don't do as they say, they'll cut off my funds and my charities…" Tears began to fill my eyes.

"They won't be able to care for themselves. The children!" I cried. "Those poor homeless souls! And the battered women!" I collapsed to my knees in sobs. 

"I can't keep living like this!" I moaned slamming my fists down at my sides. "I can't live being a puppet to my parents' whims."

"That isn't life." I whispered.

Suddenly with a wildness I never felt before, I sprang to my feet, jerked one of the cabinet drawers open and retrieved my nail file. I gripped my brush and madly filed almost every single prong to razor like sharpness then attacked my wrists with fervor.

Blood oozed from the wounds and the only thought I had been: _I don't want to leave a mess when I go, I'll just crawl in the tub._ And so I did.

"Maybe I should have left a note." I said weakly to myself. "Asked Julian to watch out for Madelyn. Told Damon to take care of Angel since my parents only got custody of Angel and Keegan because they were one of my _charity_ cases."

Suddenly something struck me as my eyes drifted closed. _Who's going to take care of Keegan?_

"Stupid blond." I said before I lifted a strand of hair to my face and laughed before passing out when I discovered it red. Seconds later a younger Keegan pounded into the bathroom taking in the bloody scene.

"Oh Gods Piper, you didn't." he moaned lifting me from the tub and laying me delicately onto the hard floor. 

Keegan desperately tore apart the room, ripping out towels and wash cloths from the cabinets. After discovering the shredded skin of my wrist, he wrapped the fabric tightly around it, ripped down the shower curtain and propped my wrists up with it and a few towels.

"Piper, wake up!" He cried and shook me then pressed the mounds of cloth back over the wounds when they fell. "Piper!"

My gray eyes fluttered open and attempted to focus on Keegan's frightened tear streaked face.

"Kee Gan?" I whispered with great difficulty.

Keegan almost began laughing hysterically but got a hold of himself and focused on the dying girl before him.

"What do you think you were doing?" he asked not embarrassed when his voice cracked. "Why did you do this to yourself?"

It was then I fell in love with Keegan. I had been with many guys, who were just as handsome as him. But none of them showed the concern for my well being that I saw now in Keegan.

I laughed at my discovery and gasped as everything around me began to fade. No! I thought. I can't die after finding love.

Keegan frantically shook me again, "Piper, don't you die on me!"

I fought Death! I fought him for Keegan!

Keegan was suddenly struck by an idea, rushed into my room and I shut my eyes growing still as he came back a short time later. 

"Piper." He said quietly, fearing that I gave up as he took my left hand into his own.

I struggled to lift my eyelids and focus on Keegan. When I did, he continued.

"I need for you to repeat after me." He said. "Please?"

Before I could answer, Keegan placed the alexandrite and white gold ring he gave at graduation upon my ring finger.

"This ring, the symbol of my oath, will hold me to the words I speak: All I refuse and thee I choose."

Slowly and with an enormous amount of difficulty, I repeated the words that would forever bind my soul to Keegan.

"Now let's get you patched up." he told me obviously at ease with the situation. "Your parents will be home soon."

I began to hover in the air, my wounds healing, blood vanishing from my body and clothes, then floated into Keegan's lap asleep.

The vision ended and the mists vanished, taking us back to the pub where all eyes turned to me.

"Oh my God." Madelyn said with tears in her eyes. She began crying as Julian took her in his arms.

_I can't believe you _did_ that_, Angel exclaimed throwing up her arms and began pacing. _You are a million dollar princess and just because yer parents want you to marry big, you decide to hack yerself up!_

"Angel." Keegan admonished. 

She shot him a dirty look and glanced at Damon.

"I can't believe Piper did that either, _carra._" He told Angel shaking his head and muttered, "I wouldn't have expected that of Miss Sunshine Riley."

"Piper, how could you?" Anna cried while Rob gave me a hurt puppy dog look as he hug Anna to him. "Why didn't you, call one of us."

"Because I was afraid of this happening." I whispered avoiding everyone's sympathetic and shocked looks. "When Keegan told my parents they thought I did it for attention and refused his suggestions about seeking help." 

I looked up at them. "It was something that was to never leave the house and if it did, I'd be disowned and everyone that depends on me would be left stranded."

"So you kept your mouth shut." Julian replied and I nodded.

_I hate your parents_, Angel exclaimed all of a sudden. _When we get home, I am going to throttle those rich snobs for making you resort to those measures!_

"Wherever you go I go" Damon said as he put his arm around Angel.

Madelyn pushed Julian back gently, "Me too. Nobody messes with my friends!"

"Yeah!" Rob and Anna shouted in unison.

I couldn't believe the scene before me. Here I was expecting my friends to think I was some nut and they're shouting about how they're going to beat my parents up. I looked at each of them and my eyes settled on Julian.

"Did you think we would turn on you?" he asked with a quirk of his lips.

I shook my head, "No, I thought you won't like me if you found out I almost committed suicide."

Angel shook her finger at me, _I see your roots are showing so I'm going to ignore that childish remark._

Madelyn came over and hugged me, "Piper, you're my best friend. We've been through everything together. You and me and the rest of our friends will help ya just like you've done with all of us.

I looked over at Keegan and he smiled.

Just then someone began clapping. We all turned to see Raziel coming out of the shadows looking very smug.

"Well done, everyone." He told everyone as he looked at me, "You've made it through the Labyrinth, been through nightmares--- and desires untold and now must face me."

I rolled my eyes, "Cut the theatrics, let's get this over with."

"As you wish."

Uh oh

Time for reviews! :)


	20. Father and Son

Father and Son

Fin: see he's making a few

"You're going to wish you'd never heard of the Shadow World." Raziel said as his eyes began to glow a deadly red.

Everyone took up some fighting position, mine was cowered behind Keegan.

"Just bring it." Damon told him.

Just as abruptly as they began to glow, Raziel's eyes returned to normal and he laughed. "You are all so amusing but you forget something."

"And _what_ did we forget?" Keegan asked not dropping his guard one bit.

"_Your secret desires_"

I saw Keegan's eyes go wide before the fog rolled in and enveloped us in another journey to the past.

I was where we left off in our last vision. I had been healed was asleep in Keegan's lap, the blood that I shed vanished as if it never was there. 

Keegan began crying and rocked me, my head resting on his shoulder. 

"Why didn't you come to me?" Keegan whispered as he rocked, "That's why I stayed here. Why I rigged the Pokemon battle so you would win."

He kissed my temple and crushed a handful of my hair in his hands, "Why did you make me do this to you? To us?"

Keegan suddenly smiled as he rose to his feet with me in his arms then carried me into my room and laid me down upon my bed.

"This wasn't how I wanted to do things." He told me as he brushed a stray lock of hair from my face. "But I'm glad I did."

"Now I'll never have to go through this pain again." Keegan said harshly through his teeth and slammed his fist on the mattress. "Never have to see your beautiful face splattered with blood. Never have to worry every single moment what you are doing and if you'll do harm to yourself." He sighed and caressed my cheek. 

"Now, forever long I shall live, you shall live." He told me gently, his mood again changing like quicksilver. "I will know almost your every thought and whim. I will know the moment you are upset and set things right."

Magically he produced a small silver medallion out of thin air. "But I can't live my life being your master. You mean too much to me to exist like that" He began chanting in another language but it was as if his words and their translation were being said as one.

"This disk, the symbol of my oath this night, I do swear all I do will be for her."

Suddenly a blue circle of strange glowing runic words appeared on the medallion. Then another circle appeared glowing green; the language appeared Latin. Finally a circle of red words appeared in the middle reading: All for her.

After the small ceremony was over, Keegan smiled mischievously and opened a doorway to Vanaheim near my bed.

"If ever you need me in the night, Piper," he murmured. "I'm right here." And then he vanished into the light when the vision ended and I returned to the empty pub.

"It looks to me that our _Keegan_ has a soft spot for Piper." Raziel purred. "Does the _little_ freak have a _little_ crush?"

Keegan growled at him, barely restraining himself from attacking. "I do not."

"Then what _do_ you feel for Piper? Love?"

Keegan was silent.

"He doesn't have to answer to you, loser." I snapped stepping out from behind Keegan's protection. "In fact, what if Keegan loves me? I love him."

Keegan spun and looked at me surprised, "You—love me?"

I blushed, "Yeah. Ever since the night of the ceremony—correction ceremonies, I've loved you."

"Awww"_,_ Madelyn said with a smile. "Isn't that sweet!"

"Whatever." Damon replied obviously not impressed. Julian gave him an elbow and Angel shushed them both.

Keegan seemed to be at a loss for words. "Umm, I'm… flattered."

"This is where you're supposed to tell her you love her too" Rob informed him.

"Shh" Anna said to her boyfriend.

"As much as I enjoy the soap opera going on, I'd like to kill you now." Raziel said as his eyes began to glow again, "I think I'll begin with Piper. If I can't have her love, no man shall."

A beam of pure red negative energy shot from his eyes toward me. Before I could scream, it was upon me and knocked me down. 

Death was like a heavy weight upon me. It was dark, stifling and smelt of singed skin. My friends' screams filled my ears. Death was evil. 

After a moment of thought, I realized what really occurred and dragged myself out from under my guardian. The sight that greeted me was not a good one. 

Keegan's cloths were charred, the center of his shirt burnt away revealing angry blistered skin beneath. His face was streaked with dirt and from the corner of his mouth blood leaked out.

"Oh God Keegan." I whispered kneeling beside him. "Why did you do such a silly thing?"

"It's not silly to save the lady who loves you." He told me wincing in pain with every breath.

Around us, a fight was going on. Julian was fighting Raziel with energy shots and supernatural punches that were matched by his foe. Damon was battling Raziel barroom style, slamming chairs and tables over his head with little results. Angel was combating him with her martial arts training but the full dress and sleeves hindered her a tad. Madelyn was throwing out some magic. Some hail, some fire, a shield to protect her, etc. Rob and Anna dove over the bar and were throwing bottles at Raziel, missing him half the time.

As the fighting continued, Keegan and I were in our own world.

"You'll be okay, won't you? " I asked meekly and began crying in relief when Keegan nodded. "Is there anything I can do for you right now?"

He reached out and wiped my tears away. "Just love me." He said with a smile. "Just love me."

Suddenly the wall behind the bar ripped away, sending Rob and Anna over the other side.The weather outside changed from peaceful cloudless day into a wild and angry lightning storm. The wind was howling. Thunder roared and surrounded by the chaos was a tall man dressed in pure black armor. At his right, was the glowing wolf form of Fenris. On his left, was the illuminated snake form of Jormungand. The stranger's hair was long and brown. His ice blue eyes pierced everyone in the room and immediately Julian and Raziel went to their knees before the man. 

Jormungand slithered up to the two Shadow dwellers and snickered at Raziel. "You're going to get it." He hissed in a singsong tone of voice.

The angry man stormed over to Raziel and Julian along with Fenris demanding, "What is the meaning of this?!"

Each of us had a different reaction to the strangely familiar booming voice. I huddled up close to Keegan. Angel cringed and slip a tad closer to Damon. Madelyn stayed as calm as ever while Anna and Rob cowered in each other's arms.

When neither man replied, Fenris growled menacing as Jormungand rose up hissing and prepared to strike.

"One of you best answer me." The stranger warned. "My children are known to be very deadly when crossed."

"Raziel brought my friends and I here in hopes of capturing Piper Riley, my sovereign." Julian said. "And when he lost, Raziel was going to destroy Piper but Keegan got in the way."

Loki's eyes blazed as he jerked Raziel up by his wings, "How dare you attack my son!"

Raziel blundered for an answer, obviously stunned as I was at the revelation of Keegan's father's identity.

So that was the great honor Ariel had. How Keegan knew all the tricks of the Shadow World. Why he could travel between the worlds and open portals. It was because Keegan wasn't half alujinnu but a demi-god.

"What are you going to do about Raziel?" Keegan asked his father as I helped him to his feet.

Loki looked down at the huddled creature at his feet with disdain, "I can't think of a punishment horrible enough for this _worm_."

"You could turn him into a worm." Anna suggested.

"Or a slug." Rob added.

"Why don't you give him Goblin King hair." Damon said with a devilish grin.

_You only want pay back,_ Angel told him.

"Why don't you sic the Queen of Hearts on him?" Julian asked rising to his feet.

"Broken hearts." Madelyn corrected.

Loki chuckled. "Those are all very fitting punishments." He told everyone and then turned to me. "But why don't we let Piper decide. She was the one who might have been the worst hurt in this game."

Everyone's eyes were on me as I thought of a punishment fitting for Raziel's crimes. He could be left to dwell forever lost in the Labyrinth. He could be ripped to pieces and devoured by Jormungand and Fenris.Or he could be shown mercy, a soft voice inside me whispered.

"I just want to go home." I told them wearily. "I want to get out of here, enjoy the rest of my birthday and go home."

"As you wish." Loki said as everything blurred together and went dark.


	21. Home once more

Home once more

"Piper, wake up!" exclaimed someone as they shook me awake. I opened my eyes to see Jenny Thorton-Locke knelt down beside me just outside the Scarborough Faire Labyrinth.

As I slowly lifted up my head and stood up I noticed everyone was crowded around and looked at me with concern in their eyes.

"What happened?" I asked dusting myself off.

"Rob, Anna, Julian, Madelyn, Damon, Angel, Keegan and you all came out of the maze then you fainted." Kaitlyn told me.

"Freaked everyone out since nothing seemed to have caused it." Tom added.

Nothing?! I just won a Game against one of the top ranked Shadow baddies and Tom says _nothing??_

"Maybe we should get back to Purgatory and have some cake and ice cream." Gabe suggested. Everyone agreed and we teleported back to the empty pub. 

Back in California, Purgatory was decorated with pink and white streamers in the wooden rafters. The music in the background was the haunting melodies of Broadway. At the bar was a stack of presents wrapped in pink wrapping paper, half of them the size of a quarter. When I entered with my friends, a collective gasp was uttered.

"What is this?" I asked astonished.

Just then Loki came out from the back carrying a two tiered cake and sat it on a near by table.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Julian exclaimed then remembered his manners and bowed his head, "My lord."

Loki chuckled, "I happen to own this place." He then addressed me, "Everyone you befriended in Niflheim sent you presents. The wisps, the Sirens, Ezren, even the Queen of Hearts sent you something."

"Did we miss something?" Tom asked no one in particular.

"Just that in the Labyrinth we got sent to my world, forced face out desires and fears, faced off against one nasty bad guy and found out Keegan is a demi-god." Damon said with a shrug.

Stefan shot his brother a dirty look.

"You own Purgatory?" I asked Loki in disbelief. "How?"

"When Ariel died, I ordered my daughter Hella to never let her soul into the netherworld or into Anaheim, leaving Ariel's soul no other choice than to stay in Niflheim where I could keep her forever." Loki sighed, "But when I manipulated Baldor's death so long ago, I cursed myself to an existence of suffering. When Odin discovered what I had done, he imprisoned me here on earth, stripped of my powers."

"When I built Purgatory, I set out to right a few wrongs in this prison of mine. Julian was punished for his love and Madelyn was suffering because of her knowledge. So I lured them here. Angela was trapped in an abusive home with no knowledge of Keegan, while Damon was a hero that never got the girl in the end. So I set up everything where they would meet."

"You played cupid with us?" Julian exclaimed. "Why Salvatore and me?"

"Yes, trickster. Why did you set Jules and me up to meet Maddy and Angel." Damon inquired quietly with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

Loki smiled, "I loved Angela as much as I love Keegan. She did not deserve the treatment she was receiving from her in-laws. When I saw you with Julian, I knew you and Angel would be perfect together."

"And me? Why was I manipulated?" Julian asked.

"Not manipulated, Julian. Rewarded." Loki corrected. "Raziel told me how you watched over Jenny when she was a child. Ezrin often said it was stupid and silly of you but Keegan saw something else in you."

"I created creatures of hate and evil but ended up with one that had goodness and love in him. I never expected that out of something I made since I too was evil. What does that say to you?"

"That if you can create a creature with light, you must have light inside you." Julian responded quietly.

Loki smiled, "And so as a reward to you for pointing that out, Keegan and I manipulated the circumstances that would bring you to Madelyn."

"And what about me?" Rob asked. "Did you manipulate anything with me?"

"You had what you needed." Loki replied as Anna hugged Rob. "There was no need for me to interfere."

"Enough introspect," Elena said without warning "Let's have some cake and open some presents!"

Loki handed out plates and sliced cake while I sat down and began opening presents. The Queen of Hearts gave me an outfit that was an exact copy of the one she wore. The Sirens gave me a CD player and a CD of their singing, something that I was forced to turn off immediately. Ezrin gave me a bag of bloodstones with gold runes inscribed on the stone and a few spells I could do with them. Each of the wisps little packages contained something different. One contained a pair of lapis earrings. Another contained a pink tiny rose. A third was locks of my hair, I figured they wanted to give it back.

By the time everyone finished their cake, ice cream and drinks, I was down to the final two gifts. One red, one white.

"Who's this one from?" Madelyn asked as I examined the small red box in front of me and found the card.

"It says _To the one greatest light and what might have been_." With a frown I opened the box. I gasped as I peered inside and pulled out a pure white rose and a feather.

"It's from Raziel." I whispered.

"He told me to tell you thank you for the mercy you've given him." Loki told me. "And that all the purple plants inside the Labyrinth are now like that rose you now have."

I gently placed the feather and rose back in the box and took up my final present. On top of the box was a large envelope, almost completely hidden from the eye. I opened it and read aloud the note inside.

"_Dearest and brightest Piper, I am honored to have known of your precious gifts of hope and kindness. May my gift give you the same that you have given others. Love, Ariel Taliesin, Lady of Niflheim._"

I opened the box and found nothing inside.

_That's a gyp, Angel said with a snort. May my gift give you the same that you have given others. _

"I wonder what she was trying to say?" Anna asked herself as Madelyn puzzled over the note.

"Maybe she was saying that Piper already has her actual gift." Rob said. "Ariel might have been psychic."

"My mother wasn't psychic, Rob!" Keegan exclaimed. "The present is supposed to give her hope and kindness."

"It sounds like your mother is as tricky as you are, _Mr. Taliesin_." A very familiar voice snapped behind me.

I dreaded the sight I was going to see when I turned around. They were going to be very upset and sure enough I were.

My mother and father were standing there, looking down upon me with disgust. Amelia Riley's harsh gray eyes pierced my soul and made me numb with dread. Her perfectly styled brown hair in small disarray so angry she was. Baxter Riley's brown eyes bore into me while his own blond hair was still neat. Their chic clothes were the slightest bit wrinkled, signs that they had rushed back home on the closest flight back home and got in second class seats in their rush.

"Could you please tell me, Mr. Taliesin, why our daughter is here with her friends instead of in Hawaii meeting her fiancé?" my father demanded.

"Took a wrong turn at Albuquerque?" Keegan replied innocently. "I can never get the hang of maps here. Is Hawaii north or south of California."

"It's neither!" my mother exclaimed angrily.

"Amelia, calm yourself." My father told his wife calmly and turned back to Keegan. "You understand we were very concerned about Piper's welfare when she didn't meet us as we planned."

"You planned, sir." Keegan corrected. "Piper wanted to have a small party with her friends with cake and ice cream and presents. No fiancé, no Hawaii, _nada_." 

My father took a deep cleansing breath, "And you took it upon yourself to give her that small party and not tell us, correct?"

"I didn't wish to upset your business plans and I understood you are very busy individuals but if you check your voice mails, you'll discover I left you a message telling you exactly when and where Piper and I would be all day."

Mother flipped open her cell phone and listened to her voice mail. One message was from her Swede manicurist and the last was from Keegan informing her that I was going to be at Scarborough faire at eight AM and then would be at Purgatory around six PM. He also informed her that she was a prune and hung up.

"If you weren't so useful—"My mother threatened as her face turned purple with rage as my friends and I tried not to giggle

"Whatever, pruney." Keegan said and rolled his eyes when Loki discreetly cleared his throat.

"Keegan, pack up Piper's gifts and let's all leave for the estate." My father ordered.

"But—"I argued before my mother cut me off.

"We're leaving." She hissed and stormed off.

With a sigh, I said goodbye to everyone as Keegan packed up my gifts and left.

Once I was home and Keegan was off unloading my presents in my room, my parents tore into me. They told me that because of my "reckless" behavior my fiancé no longer wished to marry me and now they had to accept a "second rate billion dollar CEO" as a son-in-law. My mother was in tears with that announcement.

"Furthermore Piper," my father said pacing before me, "Your mother and I feel that it would be wise for you to not continue your friendship with that strange group of yours. They lack the social—status that you require in the future. I trust you can _at least_ do that correctly."

"Yes father." I replied calmly despite the fact that my world was crumbling apart.

"Good night then." He ordered.

I walked to my room in a daze and when I shut the door behind me I found my room oddly empty. It looked the same, but not. My bed was by the cathedral window, the comforter was pink as was the sheets and pillows. My computer and desk sat in one corner while my dressers and wardrobe sat in another. At one end was my vanity and at the other near my bed was the door to the bathroom. 

It was then I noticed what was missing. The doorway to my sanctuary, to beloved Anaheim where Keegan would hold me and sing to me, was gone. 

I collapsed to the floor and began to cry.

Keegan was gone.


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue

The stars outside filled the darkness of my room with little light. I looked up at the ceiling and gazed at my glow in the dark gallery of stars and smiled at the memories it brought. Memories of Keegan helping me stick each and every one on the ceiling. His beautiful eyes dancing bright as the stars outside.

Silent tears ran down my face. It had been too many days since I saw the man I loved. Too many days spent trapped inside the world my parents created for me. Trapped smiling at men full of themselves and the power they thought they possessed. Trapped laughing at stupid things the socialites said at parties. I lived in a nightmare that was my existence.

I glanced down at the cool blue stone on the ring Keegan gave me, curled up tight in a ball and squeezed my eyes shut. Where was my guardian now that my world was whirling out of control? Where was the man that cared enough for me to enslave himself to my greedy parents and ensure my happiness?

I began to imagine his hands caressing my cheek and wiping the tears from face. I could just feel him gather me into his arms and murmur that everything was right, that nothing would hurt me as long we were together. More tears began flooding my eyes and running down my cheeks as my imagination let me once more feel his lips on my temple, my cheek and finally my lips.

The kiss was bittersweet and full of tender longing. Full of hope that maybe, just maybe if we stick together, the world would vanish and leave us free to do as we always wanted to. That if we loved each other enough that everything would work out. 

"I love you Piper." Keegan whispered to me when our lips drew apart and I realized that this was no fantasy. "I always have."

I opened my eyes and sat up, "Keegan." I whispered reaching out to him.

He took my hand and brushed kisses against my fingertips. "Hello Piper." he said huskily.

"You're here."

He nodded, "I came for you. To tell you—that you were more than my friend. That —I love you, I always have."

Tears of joy ran down my face as we embraced.

"And now my love, let's go where nothing will ever harm you again." He said to me. "I've already prepared the perfect place."

I smiled up at him, "Any where you are is perfect."

And then we were gone.

~ The End ~

Thank you everyone that reviewed. You are the reason I continued doing this series to tell each of the hero's (and their heroine's) stories. So again thank you and, for the final time, review this story for me. 


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